Reference signal schemes in wireless communications

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described that provide for synchronization signal (SS) blocks in which synchronization signals and broadcast channel transmissions may be transmitted. Broadcast channel transmissions may be demodulated using SS transmissions, reference signal transmissions, or combinations thereof. Broadcast channel transmissions may be transmitted in a subset of SS block time resources, and synchronization signals may be transmitted in another subset of SS block time resources. Reference signals may be transmitted using tones within the broadcast channel time resources, and may be transmitted at a higher density for portions of the broadcast channel transmission bandwidth that are outside of the SS transmission bandwidth. Waveforms for reference signal transmissions, and information provided by reference signal transmissions may be provided.

CROSS REFERENCES

The present Application for patent is a Continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/934,784 by Abedini et al., entitled “ReferenceSignal Schemes in Wireless Communications,” filed Mar. 23, 2018, whichclaims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/483,943 byAbedini et al., entitled “Reference Signal Schemes in WirelessCommunications,” filed Apr. 10, 2017, each of which is assigned to theassignee hereof, and each of which is expressly incorporated herein byreference.

BACKGROUND

The following relates generally to wireless communication, and morespecifically to reference signal schemes in wireless communications.

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as voice, video, packet data,messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable ofsupporting communication with multiple users by sharing the availablesystem resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of suchmultiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA)systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequencydivision multiple access (FDMA) systems, and orthogonal frequencydivision multiple access (OFDMA) systems, (e.g., a Long Term Evolution(LTE) system, or a New Radio (NR) or 5G system).

In some examples, a wireless multiple-access communication system mayinclude a number of base stations, each simultaneously supportingcommunication for multiple communication devices, otherwise known asuser equipment (UEs). In a LTE or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) networks, a setof one or more base stations may define an eNodeB (eNB). In otherexamples (e.g., in a NR or 5G network), a wireless multiple accesscommunication system may include a number of smart radio heads (RHs) incommunication with a number of access node controllers (ANCs), where aset of one or more RHs, in communication with an ANC, defines a basestation (e.g., an eNB or gNB). A base station may communicate with a setof UEs on downlink (DL) channels (e.g., for transmissions from a basestation to a UE) and uplink (UL) channels (e.g., for transmissions froma UE to a base station).

At times, a UE may need to perform an initial access (or initialacquisition) procedure to gain access to a wireless network. As part ofthe initial access procedure, the UE may need to search for asynchronization channel transmitted by a network access device, such asa base station, of the wireless network. The UE also may acquire variousitems of system information, such as contained in a master informationblock (MIB) or one or more system information blocks (e.g., SIB1, SIB2,etc.) that may be transmitted in a physical broadcast channel (PBCH)transmission from a base station.

SUMMARY

The described techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices,or apparatuses that support reference signal schemes in wirelesscommunications. Generally, the described techniques provide forsynchronization signal (SS) blocks in which synchronization signals andphysical broadcast channel (PBCH) transmissions may be transmitted. Insome cases, PBCH transmissions may be demodulated using SStransmissions, reference signal transmissions, or combinations thereof.In some examples, PBCH transmissions may be transmitted in a subset ofSS block time resources (e.g., in two symbols of an SS block), andsynchronization signals (e.g., primary synchronization signal (PSS) andsecondary synchronization signal (SSS)) may be transmitted in anothersubset of SS block time resources.

In some cases, reference signals (e.g., a demodulation reference signal(DMRS)) may be transmitted using tones within the PBCH time resources,and the locations of the tones may be selected to provide efficientdemodulation using relatively few transmission resources. In some cases,a bandwidth of the PBCH transmissions may be greater than a bandwidth ofSS transmissions, and DMRS may be transmitted at a higher density forportions of the PBCH transmission bandwidth that are outside of the SStransmission bandwidth. In some cases, different DMRS tones may be usedfor different PBCH time resources.

In some cases, a DMRS waveform may be configured across PBCH timeresources (e.g., across two or more symbols that contain PBCHtransmissions). In some examples, a same DMRS sequence may be used foreach PBCH symbol, and each PBCH symbol may include a same number of DMRStones. In other examples, PBCH symbols may include a subset of commonDMRS tones across PBCH symbols and a subset of DMRS tones that aredifferent across PBCH symbols. In such examples, the common DMRS tonesmay share a same DMRS sequence, and the other DMRS tones may have adifferent sequence. In still further examples, the DMRS waveforms fordifferent symbols of PBCH transmissions may be completely different. Insome examples, different DMRS sequences may be constructed by splittinga long base sequence among different PBCH time resources (e.g., a longZadoff-Chu sequence, m-sequence, or cyclic shifts thereof). In someexamples, reference signal sequences (e.g., DMRS sequences), tonelocations, or combinations thereof may be used to convey one or more ofidentification information, timing information, configurationinformation, or any combination thereof.

A method of wireless communication is described. The method may includeidentifying a first set of wireless resources for synchronization signaltransmissions and a second set of wireless resources for broadcastchannel transmissions, the first set of wireless resources comprising afirst set of frequency resources that span a first bandwidth and thesecond set of wireless resources comprising a second set of frequencyresources that span a second bandwidth that overlaps at least a portionof the first bandwidth, identifying locations of reference signalresources within the second set of wireless resources based at least inpart on one or more of a time resource location within the second set ofwireless resources or a frequency resource location within the secondset of wireless resources relative to the first bandwidth, and receivingreference signal transmissions using the reference signal resources.

An apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatus mayinclude means for identifying a first set of wireless resources forsynchronization signal transmissions and a second set of wirelessresources for broadcast channel transmissions, the first set of wirelessresources comprising a first set of frequency resources that span afirst bandwidth and the second set of wireless resources comprising asecond set of frequency resources that span a second bandwidth thatoverlaps at least a portion of the first bandwidth, means foridentifying locations of reference signal resources within the secondset of wireless resources based at least in part on one or more of atime resource location within the second set of wireless resources or afrequency resource location within the second set of wireless resourcesrelative to the first bandwidth, and means for receiving referencesignal transmissions using the reference signal resources.

Another apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatusmay include a processor, memory in electronic communication with theprocessor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions maybe operable to cause the processor to identify a first set of wirelessresources for synchronization signal transmissions and a second set ofwireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions, the first set ofwireless resources comprising a first set of frequency resources thatspan a first bandwidth and the second set of wireless resourcescomprising a second set of frequency resources that span a secondbandwidth that overlaps at least a portion of the first bandwidth,identify locations of reference signal resources within the second setof wireless resources based at least in part on one or more of a timeresource location within the second set of wireless resources or afrequency resource location within the second set of wireless resourcesrelative to the first bandwidth, and receive reference signaltransmissions using the reference signal resources.

A non-transitory computer readable medium for wireless communication isdescribed. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may includeinstructions operable to cause a processor to identify a first set ofwireless resources for synchronization signal transmissions and a secondset of wireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions, the firstset of wireless resources comprising a first set of frequency resourcesthat span a first bandwidth and the second set of wireless resourcescomprising a second set of frequency resources that span a secondbandwidth that overlaps at least a portion of the first bandwidth,identify locations of reference signal resources within the second setof wireless resources based at least in part on one or more of a timeresource location within the second set of wireless resources or afrequency resource location within the second set of wireless resourcesrelative to the first bandwidth, and receive reference signaltransmissions using the reference signal resources.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the second bandwidth may belarger than the first bandwidth. In some examples of the method,apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described above,the identifying locations of the reference signal resources comprisesidentifying non-uniformly distributed reference signal resources acrossthe second set of frequency resources.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the second set of frequencyresources comprise a first subset of frequency resources that may beoverlapping with the first bandwidth and a second subset of frequencyresources that may be non-overlapping with the first bandwidth, and thesecond subset of frequency resources may have a higher density ofreference signal resources than the first subset of frequency resources.In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the first subset of frequencyresources may be devoid of reference signal resources.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the second set of wirelessresources comprises a first subset of time resources and a second subsetof time resources, and the reference signal resources may benon-uniformly distributed across the first subset of time resources andthe second subset of time resources. In some examples of the method,apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described above,the second set of wireless resources comprises a first subset of timeresources and a second subset of time resources, and the referencesignal resources within the first subset of time resources occupydifferent frequency resources than at least a portion of referencesignal resources within the second subset of time resources. In someexamples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readablemedium described above, the second set of wireless resources comprises afirst subset of time resources and a second subset of time resources,and at least a portion of the reference signal resources within thefirst subset of time resources and the second subset of time resourcesoccupy common frequency tones.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the second set of wirelessresources comprise PBCH resources and the first set of wirelessresources comprise synchronization signal resources. In some examples ofthe method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable mediumdescribed above, the PBCH resources comprise a first symbol of timeresources and a third symbol of time resources, the synchronizationsignal resources comprise a second symbol of time resources and a fourthsymbol of time resources, the second symbol of time resources locatedbetween the first symbol of time resources and the third symbol of timeresources, and the fourth symbol of time resources located after thethird symbol of time resources.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the second symbol of timeresources may be for transmission of a secondary synchronization signaland the fourth symbol of time resources may be for transmission of aprimary synchronization signal. In some examples of the method,apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described above,the reference signal transmissions comprise DMRS transmissions.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the second set of wirelessresources comprises a first subset of time resources and a second subsetof time resources, and locations of reference signal resources areidentified within the first subset of time resources and the secondsubset of time resources. Some examples of the method, apparatus, andnon-transitory computer-readable medium described above may furtherinclude processes, features, means, or instructions for determining awaveform of the reference signal transmissions based at least in part onthe locations of the reference signal resources. Some examples of themethod, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium describedabove may further include processes, features, means, or instructionsfor performing a channel estimation based at least in part on thereceived reference signal transmissions and the determined waveform ofthe reference signal transmissions.

Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above may further include processes,features, means, or instructions for determining one or more of atransmitter identification, timing information, or synchronizationsignal transmission configuration based at least in part on the receivedreference signal transmissions.

A method of wireless communication is described. The method may includeidentifying a first set of wireless resources for synchronization signaltransmissions and a second set of wireless resources for broadcastchannel transmissions, the second set of wireless resources comprising afirst subset of time resources and a second subset of time resources,identifying locations of reference signal resources within the firstsubset of time resources and the second subset of time resources,receiving reference signal transmissions over the reference signalresources, determining a waveform of the reference signal transmissionsbased at least in part on the locations of the reference signalresources, and performing a channel estimation based at least in part onthe received reference signal transmissions and the determined waveformof the reference signal transmissions.

An apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatus mayinclude means for identifying a first set of wireless resources forsynchronization signal transmissions and a second set of wirelessresources for broadcast channel transmissions, the second set ofwireless resources comprising a first subset of time resources and asecond subset of time resources, means for identifying locations ofreference signal resources within the first subset of time resources andthe second subset of time resources, means for receiving referencesignal transmissions over the reference signal resources, means fordetermining a waveform of the reference signal transmissions based atleast in part on the locations of the reference signal resources, andmeans for performing a channel estimation based at least in part on thereceived reference signal transmissions and the determined waveform ofthe reference signal transmissions.

Another apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatusmay include a processor, memory in electronic communication with theprocessor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions maybe operable to cause the processor to identify a first set of wirelessresources for synchronization signal transmissions and a second set ofwireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions, the second setof wireless resources comprising a first subset of time resources and asecond subset of time resources, identify locations of reference signalresources within the first subset of time resources and the secondsubset of time resources, receive reference signal transmissions overthe reference signal resources, determine a waveform of the referencesignal transmissions based at least in part on the locations of thereference signal resources, and perform a channel estimation based atleast in part on the received reference signal transmissions and thedetermined waveform of the reference signal transmissions.

A non-transitory computer readable medium for wireless communication isdescribed. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may includeinstructions operable to cause a processor to identify a first set ofwireless resources for synchronization signal transmissions and a secondset of wireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions, thesecond set of wireless resources comprising a first subset of timeresources and a second subset of time resources, identify locations ofreference signal resources within the first subset of time resources andthe second subset of time resources, receive reference signaltransmissions over the reference signal resources, determine a waveformof the reference signal transmissions based at least in part on thelocations of the reference signal resources, and perform a channelestimation based at least in part on the received reference signaltransmissions and the determined waveform of the reference signaltransmissions.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the reference signal resourcesof each of the first subset of time resources and the second subset oftime resources occupy a same number of frequency tones. In some examplesof the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable mediumdescribed above, each of the first subset of time resources and thesecond subset of time resources may have a same reference signalwaveform.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the first subset of timeresources include reference signal resources in a first subset of tonesand a second subset of tones, the second subset of time resourcesinclude reference signal resources in the first subset of tones and athird subset of tones. In some examples of the method, apparatus, andnon-transitory computer-readable medium described above, the firstsubset of tones in the first subset of time resources and the secondsubset of time resources may have a same reference signal waveform, andthe second subset of tones in the first subset of time resources and thethird subset of tones in the second subset of time resources may havedifferent reference signal waveforms. In some examples of the method,apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described above,the first subset of time resources and the second subset of timeresources may have different reference signal waveforms. In someexamples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readablemedium described above, the first subset of time resources and thesecond subset of time resources may have different portions of areference signal sequence.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the second set of wirelessresources comprise PBCH resources and the first set of wirelessresources comprise synchronization signal resources. In some examples ofthe method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable mediumdescribed above, the PBCH resources comprise a first symbol of timeresources and a third symbol of time resources, the synchronizationsignal resources comprise a second symbol of time resources and a fourthsymbol of time resources, the second symbol of time resources locatedbetween the first symbol of time resources and the third symbol of timeresources, and the fourth symbol of time resources located after thethird symbol of time resources. In some examples of the method,apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described above,the second symbol of time resources may be for transmission of asecondary synchronization signal and the fourth symbol of time resourcesmay be for transmission of a primary synchronization signal. In someexamples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readablemedium described above, the reference signal transmissions comprise DMRStransmissions.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the first set of wirelessresources comprises a first set of frequency resources that span a firstbandwidth and the second set of wireless resources comprises a secondset of frequency resources that span a second bandwidth that may belarger than the first bandwidth and that overlaps at least a portion ofthe first bandwidth, and wherein the reference signal resources arenon-uniformly distributed across the second set of frequency resources.In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the reference signal resourcesmay be non-uniformly distributed across the first subset of timeresources and the second subset of time resources, the reference signalresources within the first subset of time resources occupy differentfrequency resources than at least a portion of reference signalresources within the second subset of time resources, or any combinationthereof.

Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above may further include processes,features, means, or instructions for determining one or more of atransmitter identification, timing information, or synchronizationsignal transmission configuration based at least in part on the receivedreference signal transmissions.

A method of wireless communication is described. The method may includeidentifying a first set of wireless resources for synchronization signaltransmissions and a second set of wireless resources for broadcastchannel transmissions, identifying locations of reference signalresources within the second set of wireless resources, receivingreference signal transmissions over the reference signal resources, anddetermining one or more of a transmitter identification, timinginformation, or synchronization signal transmission configuration basedat least in part on the received reference signal transmissions.

An apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatus mayinclude means for identifying a first set of wireless resources forsynchronization signal transmissions and a second set of wirelessresources for broadcast channel transmissions, means for identifyinglocations of reference signal resources within the second set ofwireless resources, means for receiving reference signal transmissionsover the reference signal resources, and means for determining one ormore of a transmitter identification, timing information, orsynchronization signal transmission configuration based at least in parton the received reference signal transmissions.

Another apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatusmay include a processor, memory in electronic communication with theprocessor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions maybe operable to cause the processor to identify a first set of wirelessresources for synchronization signal transmissions and a second set ofwireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions, identifylocations of reference signal resources within the second set ofwireless resources, receive reference signal transmissions over thereference signal resources, and determine one or more of a transmitteridentification, timing information, or synchronization signaltransmission configuration based at least in part on the receivedreference signal transmissions.

A non-transitory computer readable medium for wireless communication isdescribed. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may includeinstructions operable to cause a processor to identify a first set ofwireless resources for synchronization signal transmissions and a secondset of wireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions, identifylocations of reference signal resources within the second set ofwireless resources, receive reference signal transmissions over thereference signal resources, and determine one or more of a transmitteridentification, timing information, or synchronization signaltransmission configuration based at least in part on the receivedreference signal transmissions.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the determining comprises:determining a cell identification of a base station based at least inpart on a reference signal sequence of the reference signaltransmissions.

Some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above may further include processes,features, means, or instructions for receiving synchronization signaltransmissions over the first set of wireless resources. Some examples ofthe method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable mediumdescribed above may further include processes, features, means, orinstructions for determining a cell identification of a base stationbased at least in part on the synchronization signal transmissions, andwherein the receiving the reference signal transmissions may be based atleast in part on the cell identification of the base station.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, information related to asynchronization signal burst index within a synchronization signal burstset may be determined based at least in part on a reference signalsequence of the reference signal transmissions. In some examples of themethod, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium describedabove, information related to a synchronization signal block indexwithin a synchronization signal burst may be determined based at leastin part on a reference signal sequence of the reference signaltransmissions. In some examples of the method, apparatus, andnon-transitory computer-readable medium described above, the determiningcomprises: determining a redundancy version of a broadcast channeltransmission transmitted in the second set of wireless resources basedat least in part on a reference signal sequence of the reference signaltransmissions. In some examples of the method, apparatus, andnon-transitory computer-readable medium described above, a configurationof one or more of a synchronization signal burst, a synchronizationsignal burst set, or a periodicity of synchronization signaltransmissions may be determined based at least in part on a referencesignal sequence of the reference signal transmissions.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the determination may be basedat least in part on a mapping between a reference signal sequence of thereference signal transmissions and one or more of the transmitteridentification, the timing information, or the synchronization signaltransmission configuration. In some examples of the method, apparatus,and non-transitory computer-readable medium described above, thedetermining may be based at least in part on a mapping between thelocations of the reference signal resources and one or more of thetransmitter identification, the timing information, or thesynchronization signal transmission configuration.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the first set of wirelessresources comprises a first set of frequency resources that span a firstbandwidth and the second set of wireless resources comprises a secondset of frequency resources that span a second bandwidth that overlaps atleast a portion of the first bandwidth, and non-uniformly distributedthe reference signal resources may be identified across the second setof frequency resources. In some examples of the method, apparatus, andnon-transitory computer-readable medium described above, the secondbandwidth that may be larger than the first bandwidth.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the second set of wirelessresources comprise PBCH resources and the first set of wirelessresources comprise synchronization signal resources. In some examples ofthe method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable mediumdescribed above, the PBCH resources comprise a first symbol of timeresources and a third symbol of time resources, the synchronizationsignal resources comprise a second symbol of time resources and a fourthsymbol of time resources, the second symbol of time resources locatedbetween the first symbol of time resources and the third symbol of timeresources, and the fourth symbol of time resources located after thethird symbol of time resources. In some examples of the method,apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described above,the second symbol of time resources may be for transmission of asecondary synchronization signal and the fourth symbol of time resourcesmay be for transmission of a primary synchronization signal. In someexamples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readablemedium described above, the reference signal transmissions comprise DMRStransmissions.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the second set of wirelessresources comprises a first subset of time resources and a second subsetof time resources, and the reference signal resources may benon-uniformly distributed across the first subset of time resources andthe second subset of time resources, the reference signal resourceswithin the first subset of time resources occupy different frequencyresources than at least a portion of reference signal resources withinthe second subset of time resources, or any combination thereof.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the second set of wirelessresources comprises a first subset of time resources and a second subsetof time resources, and locations of reference signal resources may beidentified within the first subset of time resources and the secondsubset of time resources. Some examples of the method, apparatus, andnon-transitory computer-readable medium described above may furtherinclude processes, features, means, or instructions for determining awaveform of the reference signal transmissions based at least in part onthe locations of the reference signal resources. Some examples of themethod, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium describedabove may further include processes, features, means, or instructionsfor performing a channel estimation based at least in part on thereceived reference signal transmissions and the determined waveform ofthe reference signal transmissions.

A method of wireless communication is described. The method may includeconfiguring a first set of wireless resources for synchronization signaltransmissions and a second set of wireless resources for broadcastchannel transmissions, the first set of wireless resources comprising afirst set of frequency resources that span a first bandwidth and thesecond set of wireless resources comprising a second set of frequencyresources that span a second bandwidth that overlaps at least a portionof the first bandwidth, configuring reference signal resources withinthe second set of wireless resources, locations of the reference signalresources based at least in part on one or more of a time resourcelocation within the second set of wireless resources or a frequencyresource location within the second set of wireless resources relativeto the first bandwidth, and transmitting reference signal transmissionsusing the reference signal resources and synchronization signaltransmissions using the first set of wireless resources.

An apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatus mayinclude means for configuring a first set of wireless resources forsynchronization signal transmissions and a second set of wirelessresources for broadcast channel transmissions, the first set of wirelessresources comprising a first set of frequency resources that span afirst bandwidth and the second set of wireless resources comprising asecond set of frequency resources that span a second bandwidth thatoverlaps at least a portion of the first bandwidth, means forconfiguring reference signal resources within the second set of wirelessresources, locations of the reference signal resources based at least inpart on one or more of a time resource location within the second set ofwireless resources or a frequency resource location within the secondset of wireless resources relative to the first bandwidth, and means fortransmitting reference signal transmissions using the reference signalresources and synchronization signal transmissions using the first setof wireless resources.

Another apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatusmay include a processor, memory in electronic communication with theprocessor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions maybe operable to cause the processor to configure a first set of wirelessresources for synchronization signal transmissions and a second set ofwireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions, the first set ofwireless resources comprising a first set of frequency resources thatspan a first bandwidth and the second set of wireless resourcescomprising a second set of frequency resources that span a secondbandwidth that overlaps at least a portion of the first bandwidth,configure reference signal resources within the second set of wirelessresources, locations of the reference signal resources based at least inpart on one or more of a time resource location within the second set ofwireless resources or a frequency resource location within the secondset of wireless resources relative to the first bandwidth, and transmitreference signal transmissions using the reference signal resources andsynchronization signal transmissions using the first set of wirelessresources.

A non-transitory computer readable medium for wireless communication isdescribed. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may includeinstructions operable to cause a processor to configure a first set ofwireless resources for synchronization signal transmissions and a secondset of wireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions, the firstset of wireless resources comprising a first set of frequency resourcesthat span a first bandwidth and the second set of wireless resourcescomprising a second set of frequency resources that span a secondbandwidth that overlaps at least a portion of the first bandwidth,configure reference signal resources within the second set of wirelessresources, locations of the reference signal resources based at least inpart on one or more of a time resource location within the second set ofwireless resources or a frequency resource location within the secondset of wireless resources relative to the first bandwidth, and transmitreference signal transmissions using the reference signal resources andsynchronization signal transmissions using the first set of wirelessresources.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the second bandwidth may belarger than the first bandwidth. In some examples of the method,apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described above,the locations of the reference signal resources may be configured to benon-uniformly distributed reference signal resources across the secondset of frequency resources.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the second set of frequencyresources comprise a first subset of frequency resources that may beoverlapping with the first bandwidth and a second subset of frequencyresources that may be non-overlapping with the first bandwidth, and thesecond subset of frequency resources may have a higher density ofreference signal resources than the first subset of frequency resources.In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the first subset of frequencyresources may be devoid of reference signal resources.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the second set of wirelessresources comprises a first subset of time resources and a second subsetof time resources, and the reference signal resources may benon-uniformly distributed across the first subset of time resources andthe second subset of time resources. In some examples of the method,apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described above,the second set of wireless resources comprises a first subset of timeresources and a second subset of time resources, and the referencesignal resources within the first subset of time resources occupydifferent frequency resources than at least a portion of referencesignal resources within the second subset of time resources. In someexamples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readablemedium described above, the second set of wireless resources comprises afirst subset of time resources and a second subset of time resources,and at least a portion of the reference signal resources within thefirst subset of time resources and the second subset of time resourcesoccupy common frequency tones.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the second set of wirelessresources comprise PBCH resources and the first set of wirelessresources comprise synchronization signal resources. In some examples ofthe method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable mediumdescribed above, the PBCH resources comprise a first symbol of timeresources and a third symbol of time resources, the synchronizationsignal resources comprise a second symbol of time resources and a fourthsymbol of time resources, the second symbol of time resources locatedbetween the first symbol of time resources and the third symbol of timeresources, and the fourth symbol of time resources located after thethird symbol of time resources. In some examples of the method,apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described above,the second symbol of time resources may be for transmission of asecondary synchronization signal and the fourth symbol of time resourcesmay be for transmission of a primary synchronization signal.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the reference signaltransmissions comprise DMRS transmissions. Some examples of the method,apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described abovemay further include processes, features, means, or instructions forproviding an indication of one or more of a transmitter identification,timing information, or synchronization signal transmission configurationbased at least in part on the reference signal transmissions.

A method of wireless communication is described. The method may includeconfiguring a first set of wireless resources for synchronization signaltransmissions and a second set of wireless resources for broadcastchannel transmissions, the second set of wireless resources comprising afirst subset of time resources and a second subset of time resources,configuring locations of reference signal resources within the firstsubset of time resources and the second subset of time resources,determining a waveform of a reference signal transmission based at leastin part on the locations of the reference signal resources, andtransmitting the reference signal over the reference signal resources.

An apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatus mayinclude means for configuring a first set of wireless resources forsynchronization signal transmissions and a second set of wirelessresources for broadcast channel transmissions, the second set ofwireless resources comprising a first subset of time resources and asecond subset of time resources, means for configuring locations ofreference signal resources within the first subset of time resources andthe second subset of time resources, means for determining a waveform ofa reference signal transmission based at least in part on the locationsof the reference signal resources, and means for transmitting thereference signal over the reference signal resources.

Another apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatusmay include a processor, memory in electronic communication with theprocessor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions maybe operable to cause the processor to configure a first set of wirelessresources for synchronization signal transmissions and a second set ofwireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions, the second setof wireless resources comprising a first subset of time resources and asecond subset of time resources, configure locations of reference signalresources within the first subset of time resources and the secondsubset of time resources, determine a waveform of a reference signaltransmission based at least in part on the locations of the referencesignal resources, and transmit the reference signal over the referencesignal resources.

A non-transitory computer readable medium for wireless communication isdescribed. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may includeinstructions operable to cause a processor to configure a first set ofwireless resources for synchronization signal transmissions and a secondset of wireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions, thesecond set of wireless resources comprising a first subset of timeresources and a second subset of time resources, configure locations ofreference signal resources within the first subset of time resources andthe second subset of time resources, determine a waveform of a referencesignal transmission based at least in part on the locations of thereference signal resources, and transmit the reference signal over thereference signal resources.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the reference signal resourcesof each of the first subset of time resources and the second subset oftime resources occupy a same number of frequency tones. In some examplesof the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable mediumdescribed above, each of the first subset of time resources and thesecond subset of time resources may have a same reference signalwaveform.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the first subset of timeresources include reference signal resources in a first subset of tonesand a second subset of tones, the second subset of time resourcesinclude reference signal resources in the first subset of tones and athird subset of tones. In some examples of the method, apparatus, andnon-transitory computer-readable medium described above, the firstsubset of tones in the first subset of time resources and the secondsubset of time resources may have a same reference signal waveform, andthe second subset of tones in the first subset of time resources and thethird subset of tones in the second subset of time resources may havedifferent reference signal waveforms. In some examples of the method,apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described above,the first subset of time resources and the second subset of timeresources may have different reference signal waveforms. In someexamples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readablemedium described above, the first subset of time resources and thesecond subset of time resources may have different portions of areference signal sequence.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the second set of wirelessresources comprise PBCH resources and the first set of wirelessresources comprise synchronization signal resources. In some examples ofthe method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable mediumdescribed above, the PBCH resources comprise a first symbol of timeresources and a third symbol of time resources, the synchronizationsignal resources comprise a second symbol of time resources and a fourthsymbol of time resources, the second symbol of time resources locatedbetween the first symbol of time resources and the third symbol of timeresources, and the fourth symbol of time resources located after thethird symbol of time resources. In some examples of the method,apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described above,the second symbol of time resources may be for transmission of asecondary synchronization signal and the fourth symbol of time resourcesmay be for transmission of a primary synchronization signal.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the reference signaltransmissions comprise DMRS transmissions. In some examples of themethod, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium describedabove, the first set of wireless resources comprises a first set offrequency resources that span a first bandwidth and the second set ofwireless resources comprises a second set of frequency resources thatspan a second bandwidth that may be larger than the first bandwidth andthat overlaps at least a portion of the first bandwidth, and wherein themethod further comprises: configuring non-uniformly distributed thereference signal resources across the second set of frequency resources.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the reference signal resourcesmay be non-uniformly distributed across the first subset of timeresources and the second subset of time resources, the reference signalresources within the first subset of time resources occupy differentfrequency resources than at least a portion of reference signalresources within the second subset of time resources, or any combinationthereof.

A method of wireless communication is described. The method may includeconfiguring a first set of wireless resources for synchronization signaltransmissions and a second set of wireless resources for broadcastchannel transmissions, configuring locations of reference signalresources within the second set of wireless resources, and transmittingreference signal transmissions over the reference signal resources,wherein the reference signal transmissions, the locations of thereference signal resources, or any combination thereof provide anindication of one or more of a transmitter identification, timinginformation, or synchronization signal transmission configuration.

An apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatus mayinclude means for configuring a first set of wireless resources forsynchronization signal transmissions and a second set of wirelessresources for broadcast channel transmissions, means for configuringlocations of reference signal resources within the second set ofwireless resources, and means for transmitting reference signaltransmissions over the reference signal resources, wherein the referencesignal transmissions, the locations of the reference signal resources,or any combination thereof provide an indication of one or more of atransmitter identification, timing information, or synchronizationsignal transmission configuration.

Another apparatus for wireless communication is described. The apparatusmay include a processor, memory in electronic communication with theprocessor, and instructions stored in the memory. The instructions maybe operable to cause the processor to configure a first set of wirelessresources for synchronization signal transmissions and a second set ofwireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions, configurelocations of reference signal resources within the second set ofwireless resources, and transmit reference signal transmissions over thereference signal resources, wherein the reference signal transmissions,the locations of the reference signal resources, or any combinationthereof provide an indication of one or more of a transmitteridentification, timing information, or synchronization signaltransmission configuration.

A non-transitory computer readable medium for wireless communication isdescribed. The non-transitory computer-readable medium may includeinstructions operable to cause a processor to configure a first set ofwireless resources for synchronization signal transmissions and a secondset of wireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions, configurelocations of reference signal resources within the second set ofwireless resources, and transmit reference signal transmissions over thereference signal resources, wherein the reference signal transmissions,the locations of the reference signal resources, or any combinationthereof provide an indication of one or more of a transmitteridentification, timing information, or synchronization signaltransmission configuration.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, one or more of a cellidentification of a base station, synchronization signal burst indexwithin a synchronization signal burst set, a synchronization signalblock index within a synchronization signal burst, a redundancy versionof a broadcast channel transmission transmitted in the second set ofwireless resources, a configuration of one or more of a synchronizationsignal burst, a synchronization signal burst set, a periodicity ofsynchronization signal transmissions, or any combination thereof may bemapped to a reference signal sequence of the reference signaltransmissions.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the first set of wirelessresources comprises a first set of frequency resources that span a firstbandwidth and the second set of wireless resources comprises a secondset of frequency resources that span a second bandwidth that may belarger than the first bandwidth and that overlaps at least a portion ofthe first bandwidth, and wherein the method further comprises:configuring non-uniformly distributed the reference signal resourcesacross the second set of frequency resources.

In some examples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described above, the second set of wirelessresources comprise PBCH resources and the first set of wirelessresources comprise synchronization signal resources. In some examples ofthe method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable mediumdescribed above, the PBCH resources comprise a first symbol of timeresources and a third symbol of time resources, the synchronizationsignal resources comprise a second symbol of time resources and a fourthsymbol of time resources, the second symbol of time resources locatedbetween the first symbol of time resources and the third symbol of timeresources, and the fourth symbol of time resources located after thethird symbol of time resources. In some examples of the method,apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable medium described above,the second symbol of time resources may be for transmission of asecondary synchronization signal and the fourth symbol of time resourcesmay be for transmission of a primary synchronization signal. In someexamples of the method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readablemedium described above, the reference signal transmissions comprise DMRStransmissions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a system for wireless communicationthat supports reference signal schemes in wireless communications inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a wireless communication system thatsupports SS block and reference signal schemes in wirelesscommunications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of synchronization signal (SS) burstresources that support reference signal schemes in wirelesscommunications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of SS block resources that supportreference signal schemes in wireless communications in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates another example of SS block resources that supportreference signal schemes in wireless communications in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates another example of SS block resources that supportreference signal schemes in wireless communications in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates another example of SS block resources that supportreference signal schemes in wireless communications in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a process flow that supports referencesignal schemes in wireless communications in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure.

FIGS. 9 through 11 show block diagrams of a device that supportsreference signal schemes in wireless communications in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of a system including a UE thatsupports reference signal schemes in wireless communications inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 13 through 15 show block diagrams of a device that supportsreference signal schemes in wireless communications in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 illustrates a block diagram of a system including a base stationthat supports reference signal schemes in wireless communications inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 17 through 22 illustrate methods for reference signal schemes inwireless communications in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Wireless communications systems as described herein may be configured toprovide synchronization signal (SS) blocks in which synchronizationsignals and physical broadcast channel (PBCH) transmissions may betransmitted, to aid a user equipment (UE) in initial acquisition andcommunication with a base station. In some examples, PBCH transmissionsmay be transmitted in a subset of SS block time resources (e.g., in twosymbols of an SS block), and synchronization signals (e.g., primarysynchronization signal (PSS) and secondary synchronization signal (SSS))may be transmitted in another subset of SS block time resources. Indeployments that use millimeter wave (mmW) transmission frequencies,multiple SS blocks may be transmitted in different directions using beamsweeping in a SS burst, and SS bursts may be periodically transmittedaccording to a SS burst set. In cases where a base station may transmitomni-directionally a SS block may be periodically transmitted accordingto a configured periodicity.

In some cases, PBCH transmissions may be demodulated using SStransmissions, in which the SS transmissions are used for channelestimation, which may allow a UE to demodulate the PBCH transmissions.In some examples, PBCH transmissions may be transmitted using a largerfrequency bandwidth than SS transmissions, in which case one or morereference signal transmissions (e.g., demodulation reference signal(DMRS) transmissions) in the PBCH transmissions may be useful to providereliable demodulation of the PBCH transmissions. In some examples, PBCHtransmissions may be demodulated using reference signal transmissions,SS transmissions, or combinations thereof.

In some cases, reference signals (e.g., DMRS) may be transmitted usingtones within the PBCH time resources, and the locations of the tones maybe selected to provide efficient demodulation using relatively fewtransmission resources. In some cases, as indicated above, a bandwidthof the PBCH transmissions may be greater than a bandwidth of SStransmissions, and DMRS may be transmitted at a higher density forportions of the PBCH transmission bandwidth that are outside of the SStransmission bandwidth. In some cases, different DMRS tones may be usedfor different PBCH time resources.

In some cases, a DMRS waveform may be configured across PBCH timeresources (e.g., across two or more OFDM symbols that contain PBCHtransmissions). In some examples, a same DMRS sequence may be used foreach PBCH symbol, and each PBCH symbol may include a same number of DMRStones. In other examples, PBCH symbols may include a subset of commonDMRS tones across PBCH symbols and a subset of DMRS tones that aredifferent across PBCH symbols. In such examples, the common DMRS tonesmay share a same DMRS sequence, and the other DMRS tones may have adifferent sequence. In still further examples, the DMRS waveforms fordifferent symbols of PBCH transmissions may be completely different. Insome examples, different DMRS sequences may be constructed by splittinga long base sequence among different PBCH time resources (e.g., a longZadoff-Chu sequence, m-sequence, or cyclic shifts thereof). In someexamples, reference signal sequences (e.g., DMRS sequences), tonelocations, or combinations thereof may be used to convey one or more ofidentification information, timing information, configurationinformation, or any combination thereof.

Aspects of the disclosure are initially described in the context of awireless communications system. Examples of various channelconfigurations and resource allocation schemes are described. Aspects ofthe disclosure are further illustrated by and described with referenceto apparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flowcharts that relate toreference signal schemes in wireless communications.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 100 inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The wirelesscommunications system 100 includes base stations 105, UEs 115, and acore network 130. In some examples, the wireless communications system100 may be a Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network, ora New Radio (NR) network. In some cases, wireless communications system100 may support enhanced broadband communications, ultra-reliable (i.e.,mission critical) communications, low latency communications, andcommunications with low-cost and low-complexity devices. Base stations105 and UEs 115 may be configured to use SS blocks with PBCH and SStransmissions that use different time resources (e.g., OFDM symbols)within an SS block.

Base stations 105 may wirelessly communicate with UEs 115 via one ormore base station antennas. Each base station 105 may providecommunication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110.Communication links 125 shown in wireless communications system 100 mayinclude uplink transmissions from a UE 115 to a base station 105, ordownlink transmissions, from a base station 105 to a UE 115. Controlinformation and data may be multiplexed on an uplink channel or downlinkaccording to various techniques. Control information and data may bemultiplexed on a downlink channel, for example, using time divisionmultiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency division multiplexing (FDM)techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques. In some examples, the controlinformation transmitted during a transmission time interval (TTI) of adownlink channel may be distributed between different control regions ina cascaded manner (e.g., between a common control region and one or moreUE-specific control regions).

UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout the wireless communications system100, and each UE 115 may be stationary or mobile. A UE 115 may also bereferred to as a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, asubscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, awireless device, a wireless communications device, a remote device, amobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, awireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobileclient, a client, or some other suitable terminology. A UE 115 may alsobe a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wirelessmodem, a wireless communication device, a handheld device, a tabletcomputer, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a personal electronicdevice, a handheld device, a personal computer, a wireless local loop(WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet ofEverything (IoE) device, a machine type communication (MTC) device, anappliance, an automobile, or the like.

Base stations 105 may communicate with the core network 130 and with oneanother. For example, base stations 105 may interface with the corenetwork 130 through backhaul links 132 (e.g., S1, etc.). Base stations105 may communicate with one another over backhaul links 134 (e.g., X2,etc.) either directly or indirectly (e.g., through core network 130).Base stations 105 may perform radio configuration and scheduling forcommunication with UEs 115, or may operate under the control of a basestation controller (not shown). In some examples, base stations 105 maybe macro cells, small cells, hot spots, or the like. Base stations 105may also be referred to as evolved NodeBs (eNBs) 105 or next generationNodeBs (gNBs).

The core network 130 may provide user authentication, accessauthorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and otheraccess, routing, or mobility functions. At least some of the networkdevices, such as base station 105 may include subcomponents such as anaccess network entity or an access node controller (ANC). Each accessnetwork entity may communicate with a number of UEs 115 through a numberof other access network transmission entities, each of which may be anexample of a smart radio head, or a transmission/reception point (TRP).In some configurations, various functions of each access network entityor base station 105 may be distributed across various network devices(e.g., radio heads and access network controllers) or consolidated intoa single network device (e.g., a base station 105).

Wireless communications system 100 may operate in an ultra-highfrequency (UHF) frequency region using frequency bands from 700 MHz to2600 MHz (2.6 GHz), although some networks (e.g., a wireless local areanetwork (WLAN)) may use frequencies as high as 4 GHz. This region mayalso be known as the decimeter band, since the wavelengths range fromapproximately one decimeter to one meter in length. UHF waves maypropagate mainly by line of sight, and may be blocked by buildings andenvironmental features. However, the waves may penetrate wallssufficiently to provide service to UEs 115 located indoors. Transmissionof UHF waves is characterized by smaller antennas and shorter range(e.g., less than 100 km) compared to transmission using the smallerfrequencies (and longer waves) of the high frequency (HF) or very highfrequency (VHF) portion of the spectrum. In some cases, wirelesscommunications system 100 may also utilize extremely high frequency(EHF) portions of the spectrum (e.g., from 30 GHz to 300 GHz). Thisregion may also be known as the millimeter band, since the wavelengthsrange from approximately one millimeter to one centimeter in length.Thus, EHF antennas may be even smaller and more closely spaced than UHFantennas. In some cases, this may facilitate use of antenna arrayswithin a UE 115 (e.g., for directional beamforming). However, EHFtransmissions may be subject to even greater atmospheric attenuation andshorter range than UHF transmissions.

Thus, wireless communications system 100 may support millimeter wave(mmW) communications between UEs 115 and base stations 105. Devicesoperating in mmW or EHF bands may have multiple antennas to allowbeamforming. That is, a base station 105 may use multiple antennas orantenna arrays to conduct beamforming operations for directionalcommunications with a UE 115. Beamforming (which may also be referred toas spatial filtering or directional transmission) is a signal processingtechnique that may be used at a transmitter (e.g., a base station 105)to shape and/or steer an overall antenna beam in the direction of atarget receiver (e.g., a UE 115). This may be achieved by combiningelements in an antenna array in such a way that transmitted signals atparticular angles experience constructive interference while othersexperience destructive interference.

Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless systems use atransmission scheme between a transmitter (e.g., a base station 105) anda receiver (e.g., a UE 115), where both transmitter and receiver areequipped with multiple antennas. Some portions of wirelesscommunications system 100 may use beamforming. For example, base station105 may have an antenna array with a number of rows and columns ofantenna ports that the base station 105 may use for beamforming in itscommunication with UE 115. Signals may be transmitted multiple times indifferent directions (e.g., each transmission may be beamformeddifferently). A mmW receiver (e.g., a UE 115) may try multiple beams(e.g., antenna subarrays) while receiving the synchronization signals.

In some cases, the antennas of a base station 105 or UE 115 may belocated within one or more antenna arrays, which may support beamformingor MIMO operation. One or more base station antennas or antenna arraysmay be collocated at an antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. Insome cases, antennas or antenna arrays associated with a base station105 may be located in diverse geographic locations. A base station 105may multiple use antennas or antenna arrays to conduct beamformingoperations for directional communications with a UE 115.

In some cases, wireless communications system 100 may utilize bothlicensed and unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands. For example,wireless communications system 100 may employ LTE License AssistedAccess (LTE-LAA) or LTE Unlicensed (LTE U) radio access technology or NRtechnology in an unlicensed band such as the 5 GHz Industrial,Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band. When operating in unlicensed radiofrequency spectrum bands, wireless devices such as base stations 105 andUEs 115 may employ listen-before-talk (LBT) procedures to ensure thechannel is clear before transmitting data. In some cases, operations inunlicensed bands may be based on a CA configuration in conjunction withCCs operating in a licensed band. Operations in unlicensed spectrum mayinclude downlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, or both. Duplexingin unlicensed spectrum may be based on frequency division duplexing(FDD), time division duplexing (TDD) or a combination of both.

As discussed above, in some examples base station 105 may transmit SSblocks which may be used by UEs 115 in system acquisition. The SS blocksmay include PBCH transmissions and SS transmissions, which may betransmitted in different time resources of an SS block. In cases, wherea base station 105 uses beamforming, an SS burst may be beam-swept by abase station 105 with a periodicity that is configured in a SS burst setconfiguration. In some cases, PBCH transmissions may be demodulatedusing SS transmissions, in which the SS transmissions are used forchannel estimation, which may allow a UE to demodulate the PBCHtransmissions. In some examples, PBCH transmissions may be transmittedusing a larger frequency bandwidth than SS transmissions, in which caseone or more reference signal transmissions (e.g., demodulation referencesignal (DMRS) transmissions) in the PBCH transmissions may be useful toprovide reliable demodulation of the PBCH transmissions. In someexamples, PBCH transmissions may be demodulated using reference signaltransmissions, SS transmissions, or combinations thereof.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 200that supports reference signal schemes in wireless communications inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Wirelesscommunications system 200 includes base station 105-a and UE 115-a,which may be examples of aspects of the corresponding devices asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 1. In the example of FIG. 2, thewireless communications system 200 may operate according to a radioaccess technology (RAT) such as a LTE, 5G, or NR RAT, althoughtechniques described herein may be applied to any RAT and to systemsthat may concurrently use two or more different RATs.

Base station 105-a may communicate with UE 115-a over a downlink carrier205 and an uplink carrier 215. In some cases, base station 105-a mayallocate resources for SS block 210 transmissions, which may beperiodically transmitted and may be used by UE 115-a for systemacquisition. In this example, SS blocks 210 may include a first SS block210-a, a second SS block 210-b, and a third SS block 210-c. In somecases, the periodicity of the SS blocks 210 may be configured accordingto an established standard. In other the periodicity of the SS blocks210 may be configured by the base station 105-a and information relatedto the timing or configuration of the SS blocks 210 may be provided withthe SS blocks 210. In some cases, base station 105-a may transmit usingmmW frequencies, and SS blocks 210 may be transmitted using beamsweeping.

Each of the SS blocks 210 in this example may include four symbols. Twoof the symbols, namely the first and third symbols in this example, mayinclude PBCH transmissions 225. The other two symbols, which are thesecond and fourth symbols in this example, may include SS transmissions,such as a SSS transmission 230 and a PSS transmission 235. As indicatedabove, in some examples the PBCH transmissions 225 may have a largerfrequency bandwidth than SSS transmission 230 or PSS transmission 235,although the frequency bandwidths may be the same in other examples. Insome examples, PBCH transmissions 225 may use 288 frequency tones andoccupy four resource blocks (RBs), and SSS transmission 230 and PSStransmission 235 may each use 127 tones and occupy two RBs. Thefrequency of the SSS transmission 230 and the PSS transmission 235 mayat least partially overlap with the frequency of the PBCH transmissions225. Also as discussed above, in some cases, base station 105-a may usebeam sweeping to transmit SS bursts.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of SS burst resources 300 that supportreference signal schemes in wireless communications in accordance withvarious aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, SS burstresources 300 may implement aspects of wireless communications systems100 or 200 of FIG. 1 or 2. In the example, of FIG. 3, a periodicsynchronization transmission 310 may be transmitted by a base station.In this example, a synchronization periodicity of X milliseconds 305 maybe configured for a base station, in which the synchronization may havea duration of Y microseconds 315.

In examples that use mmW frequencies, synchronization transmission 310may include a SS burst 320, which may include a number of SS blocks 325that may be transmitted using different transmission beams in a beamsweep pattern, starting with a first SS block 325-a transmitted in afirst direction, and ending with an N−1^(th) SS block 325-b transmittedin an N−1^(th) direction. Each SS block 325-b may include PBCHtransmissions and SS transmissions, such as discussed with reference toFIG. 2. As indicated above, a UE receiving PBCH transmission in a SSblock 425 may perform channel estimation and demodulation of the PBCHtransmissions. In some cases, the SSS transmitted within the same SSblock 425 as the PBCH transmission, and time division multiplexed withthe PBCH transmission, may be used for channel estimation anddemodulation of the PBCH transmissions. In such cases, the base stationmay use transmission parameters, such as antenna ports, that are thesame between the SS transmission and the PBCH transmissions.Additionally, PBCH transmissions may include, as indicated above, adedicated DMRS signal transmitted within the same symbol as PBCHmultiplexed in the frequency domain. Thus, a UE receiving thetransmissions may perform demodulation at least in part based on the SSSsignal, the DMRS transmissions, or combinations thereof. In some cases,a density of DMRS transmissions may be reduced for portions of the PBCHand SS transmissions that use overlapping bandwidth, and an increaseddensity of DMRS transmissions may be used for non-overlappingbandwidths. Additionally, in some cases, a SS transmission may betransmitted from one port (e.g., antenna port P0), and PBCH may betransmitted from two antenna ports, such as one common with the SStransmission port and one additional port (e.g., antenna ports P0 andP1). In such cases, one or more DMRS tones may be configured in theoverlapping bandwidths of the PBCH and SS transmissions that may allowfor channel estimation of the additional antenna port.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of SS block resources 400 that supportreference signal schemes in wireless communications in accordance withvarious aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, SS blockresources 400 may implement aspects of wireless communications systems100 and 200. In this example, SS block resources 400 may include foursymbols, two of which may be used to transmit PBCH transmissions 405,one may be used for SSS transmissions 410, and one may be used for PSStransmissions 415. As discussed above, PBCH transmissions 405 mayinclude reference signal transmissions, such as DMRS tones 420 ortransmissions.

In the example of FIG. 4, within the PBCH transmission 405 symbols, anon-uniform density of the DMRS tones may be used. In this example, theportions of the PBCH transmission 405 bandwidth that overlap with SSStransmission 410 bandwidth may have a reduced density of DMRS tones 420,and non-overlapping bandwidths may have an increased density of DMRStones 420. As discussed above, a UE may use, in some examples, SSStransmissions 410 for demodulation of PBCH transmissions 405, and thusthe reduced density of DMRS tones 420 in the bandwidth of the SSStransmissions 410 may still provide sufficient channel estimation fordemodulating the PBCH transmissions 405. In some cases, DMRS tones 420may be completely omitted from overlapping bandwidth, and SSStransmissions 410 may be used for PBCH transmission 405 demodulation. Byproviding reduced DMRS tone 420 density, additional PBCH resources maybe available for broadcast transmissions that may be transmitted in thePBCH transmissions 405.

In other examples, such as illustrated in FIG. 5, DMRS tones may benon-unfirmly distributed across two PBCH symbols. FIG. 5 illustratesanother example of SS block resources 500 that support reference signalschemes in wireless communications in accordance with various aspects ofthe present disclosure. In some examples, SS block resources 500 mayimplement aspects of wireless communications system 100. In thisexample, SS block resources 500 may include four symbols, two of whichmay be used to transmit PBCH transmissions 505, one may be used for SSStransmissions 510, and one may be used for PSS transmissions 515. Asdiscussed above, PBCH transmissions 505 may include reference signaltransmissions, such as DMRS transmissions 520.

In the example of FIG. 5, the DMRS transmissions may be non-uniformlydistributed across symbols that contain PBCH transmissions 505. In thisexample, overhead associated with reference signal transmissions may bereduced while still providing sufficient information for channelestimation and demodulation at a UE. In other cases, a combination ofdifferent densities within PBCH transmissions 505 symbols, and acrosssymbols may be used. In some cases, tone indices for DMRS transmissions520 may be specified for the PBCH transmission 505 symbols. In someexamples, a first set of tone indices may be provided for tones thatoverlap with SSS transmissions 510, and a second set of tone indices maybe provided for tones that are non-overlapping with SSS transmissions510.

FIG. 6 illustrates another example of SS block resources 600 thatsupport reference signal schemes in wireless communications inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. In someexamples, SS block resources 600 may implement aspects of wirelesscommunications systems 100 and 200. In this example, SS block resources600 may include four symbols, two of which may be used to transmit PBCHtransmissions 605, one may be used for SSS transmissions 610, and onemay be used for PSS transmissions 615. As discussed above, PBCHtransmissions 605 may include reference signal transmissions, such asDMRS transmissions 620.

In the example of FIG. 6, the DMRS transmissions 620 may be located instaggered DMRS tones across the symbols with PBCH transmissions 605. Insome examples, a hopping pattern may be applied to the DMRS transmission620 tones of first PBCH transmissions 605-a in a first symbol to obtainthe tones for DMRS transmissions 620 in a second PBCH transmission 605-bin a second symbol. Such staggered tones for DMRS transmissions 620 mayprovide enhanced channel estimation and frequency diversity relative toexamples that use a same set of tones between PBCH transmission 605symbols. In some cases, none of the DMRS transmission 620 tones mayoverlap between symbols with PBCH transmissions 605. In other cases, asubset of tones may be common between symbols with PBCH transmissions,such as illustrated in FIG. 7.

FIG. 7 illustrates another example of SS block resources 700 thatsupport reference signal schemes in wireless communications inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. In someexamples, SS block resources 700 may implement aspects of wirelesscommunications systems 100 and 200. In this example, SS block resources700 may include four symbols, two of which may be used to transmit PBCHtransmissions 705, one may be used for SSS transmissions 710, and onemay be used for PSS transmissions 715. As discussed above, PBCHtransmissions 705 may include reference signal transmissions, such asDMRS transmissions 720.

In the example of FIG. 7, the DMRS transmissions 720 may be located insubsets of tones, in which tones of a first subset of tones 725-a and asecond subset of tones 725-b may be common across symbols used for PBCHtransmissions 705. DMRS transmissions 720 in tones outside of thesubsets of tones 725 may use different tones between symbols. Buproviding common tones across different symbols, enhanced estimation ofcarrier frequency offset may be provided. While the example of FIG. 7shows subsets of tones 725 that are common, other examples (e.g., theexample of FIG. 4) may provide that the tones in a first PBCH symbol arethe same as a set of tones used for DMRS transmissions 720 within asecond PBCH symbol.

The waveform that is used for DMRS transmissions as discussed hereinmay, in some cases, be configured based on one of the PBCH symbols orboth of the PBCH symbols of an SS block. In some cases, the two DMRSsignals used in the two PBCH symbols within an SS block may be the samesequence. Such a same sequence may be provided, in some examples, whenthe lengths of the two DMRS sequences (i.e., the number of occupied DMRStones) are the same.

In other examples, the DMRS sequences for the different PBCH symbols maybe partially the same. In such examples, for DMRS transmissions that usethe same tones in each symbol, a first DMRS sequence may be used, and adifferent DMRS sequence may be used for non-common DMRS tones acrosssymbols. For example, a first DMRS sequence ‘i’ may be mapped to a setof S_(i) of tones. Further, the set of S_(i) tones may be divided intotwo subsets S_(i1) and S_(i2), such thatcardinality(S₁₁)=cardinality(S₁₂). The two DMRS signals transmitted overthe S₁₁ and S₁₂ tones may be the same, while the DMRS signals may bedifferent on the rest of the tones.

In still further examples, the DMRS sequence for the different PBCHsymbols may be completely different. In such cases, the two sequencesmay be constructed by splitting a long base sequence. For example, thelong base sequence may be a Zadoff-Chu sequence or m-sequence, or acyclic shift thereof.

In some examples, the DMRS sequences, the DMRS locations, orcombinations thereof may be used to provide information, such asidentification, timing, or configuration information, to a UE. Forexample, the DMRS sequence(s) for the different PBCH symbols may, singlyor jointly, carry information of any combination of a cell ID of thebase station, timing information, or information about thesynchronization configuration. The timing information may include, forexample, SS burst index information within a SS burst set, an SS blockindex within the SS burst set, a redundancy version (RV) indication ofthe corresponding PBCH (e.g., a PBCH may have 4 RVs, to carry some levelof system timing (e.g. 20 msec boundaries), and the DMRS may include allor part of the RV index of PBCH which may be used by a for PBCHdecoding), or any combination thereof. The synchronization configurationinformation may include, for example, information about theconfiguration of SS burst, the SS burst set, SS periodicity, or anycombination thereof. Such information may be provided through anycombination of a choice of DMRS sequences (e.g., different basesequences and the amount of cyclic shifts), or a choice of tonelocations allocated to DMRS sequences. In some cases, a mapping may beprovided that maps different sequences and/or tone locations todifferent information.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a process flow 800 that supportsreference signal schemes in wireless communications in accordance withvarious aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, processflow 800 may implement aspects of wireless communications system 100.Process flow 800 includes UE 115-b and base station 105-b, each of whichmay be an example of the corresponding device described with referenceto FIGS. 1 and 2.

At 805, base station 105-b may configure SS and broadcast channelresources. As discussed above, in some cases, the base station 105-b mayconfigure a SS block that includes symbols for PBCH transmissions andsymbols for SS transmissions. SS burst transmission 810 may betransmitted by the base station 105-b according to the configuredresources.

The UE 115-b, at 815, may identify the SS and broadcast channeltransmissions. In some case, the UE 115-b may monitor forsynchronization transmissions in accordance with a specifiedsynchronization timing. In cases that use mmW frequencies, the SS bursttransmission 810 may be transmitted as part of a beam sweepingprocedure, and the UE 115-b may receive the SS burst transmission 810 inusing one or the transmission beams of the beam sweeping procedure.

At 820, the UE 115-b may identify reference signal resources in thebroadcast channel. In some cases, the reference signal resources may befrequency tones that are configured for DMRS transmissions. In somecases, the broadcast channel transmission may be a PBCH transmissionwhich may include two PBCH symbols in broadcast channel time resources.

At optional block 825, the UE 115-b may determine one or more of a cellID, timing information, or configuration information based on thereceived reference signal transmission. In some cases, the sequence orwaveform of the reference signal may be used to determine suchinformation. In other cases, a location of reference signal resources,such as the tones used for DMRS transmissions, may be used to determinesuch information. In other cases, a combination of a reference signalsequence and location of reference signal resources may be used todetermine such information.

At block 830, the UE 115-b may decode the broadcast channel based on thereference signal resources and the SS transmissions. In some cases, theUE 115-b may decode PBCH transmissions based on DMRS transmissions inDMRS resources, such as discussed above. The UE 115-b and the basestation 105-b may then perform a connection establishment 835. Forexample, the UE 115-b may transmit a random access request, which mayinitiate a random access procedure to establish a connection between thebase station 105-b and the UE 115-b.

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram 900 of a wireless device 905 that supportsreference signal schemes in wireless communications in accordance withaspects of the present disclosure. Wireless device 905 may be an exampleof aspects of a user equipment (UE) 115 as described herein. Wirelessdevice 905 may include receiver 910, UE synchronization signal blockmanager 915, and transmitter 920. Wireless device 905 may also include aprocessor. Each of these components may be in communication with oneanother (e.g., via one or more buses).

Receiver 910 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to referencesignal schemes in wireless communications, etc.). Information may bepassed on to other components of the device. The receiver 910 may be anexample of aspects of the transceiver 1235 described with reference toFIG. 12. The receiver 910 may utilize a single antenna or a set ofantennas.

UE synchronization signal block manager 915 may be an example of aspectsof the UE synchronization signal block manager 1215 described withreference to FIG. 12.

UE synchronization signal block manager 915 and/or at least some of itsvarious sub-components may be implemented in hardware, software executedby a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented insoftware executed by a processor, the functions of the UEsynchronization signal block manager 915 and/or at least some of itsvarious sub-components may be executed by a general-purpose processor, adigital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), an field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or otherprogrammable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discretehardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform thefunctions described in the present disclosure. The UE synchronizationsignal block manager 915 and/or at least some of its varioussub-components may be physically located at various positions, includingbeing distributed such that portions of functions are implemented atdifferent physical locations by one or more physical devices. In someexamples, UE synchronization signal block manager 915 and/or at leastsome of its various sub-components may be a separate and distinctcomponent in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.In other examples, UE synchronization signal block manager 915 and/or atleast some of its various sub-components may be combined with one ormore other hardware components, including but not limited to an I/Ocomponent, a transceiver, a network server, another computing device,one or more other components described in the present disclosure, or acombination thereof in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure.

UE synchronization signal block manager 915 may identify a first set ofwireless resources for synchronization signal transmissions and a secondset of wireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions, the firstset of wireless resources including a first set of frequency resourcesthat span a first bandwidth and the second set of wireless resourcesincluding a second set of frequency resources that span a secondbandwidth that overlaps at least a portion of the first bandwidth,identify locations of reference signal resources within the second setof wireless resources based on one or more of a time resource locationwithin the second set of wireless resources or a frequency resourcelocation within the second set of wireless resources relative to thefirst bandwidth, and receive reference signal transmissions using thereference signal resources.

The UE synchronization signal block manager 915 may also identify afirst set of wireless resources for synchronization signal transmissionsand a second set of wireless resources for broadcast channeltransmissions, the second set of wireless resources including a firstsubset of time resources and a second subset of time resources, identifylocations of reference signal resources within the first subset of timeresources and the second subset of time resources, receive referencesignal transmissions over the reference signal resources, determine awaveform of the reference signal transmissions based on the locations ofthe reference signal resources, and perform a channel estimation basedon the received reference signal transmissions and the determinedwaveform of the reference signal transmissions.

The UE synchronization signal block manager 915 may also identify afirst set of wireless resources for synchronization signal transmissionsand a second set of wireless resources for broadcast channeltransmissions, identify locations of reference signal resources withinthe second set of wireless resources, receive reference signaltransmissions over the reference signal resources, and determine one ormore of a transmitter identification, timing information, orsynchronization signal transmission configuration based on the receivedreference signal transmissions.

Transmitter 920 may transmit signals generated by other components ofthe device. In some examples, the transmitter 920 may be collocated witha receiver 910 in a transceiver module. For example, the transmitter 920may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1235 described withreference to FIG. 12. The transmitter 920 may utilize a single antennaor a set of antennas.

FIG. 10 shows a block diagram 1000 of a wireless device 1005 thatsupports reference signal schemes in wireless communications inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Wireless device 1005may be an example of aspects of a wireless device 905 or a UE 115 asdescribed with reference to FIG. 9. Wireless device 1005 may includereceiver 1010, UE synchronization signal block manager 1015, andtransmitter 1020. Wireless device 1005 may also include a processor.Each of these components may be in communication with one another (e.g.,via one or more buses).

Receiver 1010 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to referencesignal schemes in wireless communications, etc.). Information may bepassed on to other components of the device. The receiver 1010 may be anexample of aspects of the transceiver 1235 described with reference toFIG. 12. The receiver 1010 may utilize a single antenna or a set ofantennas.

UE synchronization signal block manager 1015 may be an example ofaspects of the UE synchronization signal block manager 1215 describedwith reference to FIG. 12. UE synchronization signal block manager 1015may also include resource identification manager 1025, reference signalmanager 1030, waveform identification component 1035, and channelestimation component 1040.

Resource identification manager 1025 may identify a first set ofwireless resources for synchronization signal transmissions and a secondset of wireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions, the firstset of wireless resources including a first set of frequency resourcesthat span a first bandwidth and the second set of wireless resourcesincluding a second set of frequency resources that span a secondbandwidth that overlaps at least a portion of the first bandwidth,identify a first set of wireless resources for synchronization signaltransmissions and a second set of wireless resources for broadcastchannel transmissions, the second set of wireless resources including afirst subset of time resources and a second subset of time resources,and identify a first set of wireless resources for synchronizationsignal transmissions and a second set of wireless resources forbroadcast channel transmissions. In some cases, the second bandwidth islarger than the first bandwidth.

In some cases, the second set of wireless resources include PBCHresources and the first set of wireless resources includesynchronization signal resources. In some cases, the PBCH resourcesinclude a first symbol of time resources and a third symbol of timeresources, the synchronization signal resources include a second symbolof time resources and a fourth symbol of time resources, the secondsymbol of time resources located between the first symbol of timeresources and the third symbol of time resources, and the fourth symbolof time resources located after the third symbol of time resources. Insome cases, the second symbol of time resources is for transmission of asecondary synchronization signal and the fourth symbol of time resourcesis for transmission of a primary synchronization signal.

Reference signal manager 1030 may identify locations of reference signalresources within the second set of wireless resources based on one ormore of a time resource location within the second set of wirelessresources or a frequency resource location within the second set ofwireless resources relative to the first bandwidth, and receivereference signal transmissions over the reference signal resources. Insome cases, the second set of wireless resources includes a first subsetof time resources and a second subset of time resources, and thereference signal resources are non-uniformly distributed across thefirst subset of time resources and the second subset of time resources.In some cases, the reference signal resources within the first subset oftime resources occupy different frequency resources than at least aportion of reference signal resources within the second subset of timeresources. In some cases, the reference signal resources arenon-uniformly distributed across frequency resources.

In some cases, the frequency resources include a first subset offrequency resources that are overlapping with a first SS bandwidth and asecond subset of frequency resources that are non-overlapping with thefirst bandwidth, and the second subset of frequency resources has ahigher density of reference signal resources than the first subset offrequency resources. In some cases, the first subset of frequencyresources is devoid of reference signal resources. In some cases, thereference signal transmissions include DMRS transmissions. In somecases, a UE may determine a cell identification of a base station, aredundancy version of a broadcast channel transmission, asynchronization configuration, or any combination thereof, based on areference signal sequence of reference signal resources of the referencesignal transmissions. In some cases, such a determination is based on amapping between a reference signal sequence of the reference signaltransmissions and one or more of the transmitter identification, thetiming information, or the synchronization signal transmissionconfiguration.

Waveform identification component 1035 may determine a waveform of thereference signal transmissions based on the locations of the referencesignal resources. In some cases, each of the first subset of timeresources and the second subset of time resources have a same referencesignal waveform. In some cases, the reference signal waveform is aZadoff-Chu sequence, an m-sequence, or a cyclic shift thereof.

Channel estimation component 1040 may perform a channel estimation basedon the received reference signal transmissions and the determinedwaveform of the reference signal transmissions. In some cases, at leasta portion of the broadcast channel transmissions are demodulated basedon synchronization signal transmissions received in the first set ofwireless resources.

Transmitter 1020 may transmit signals generated by other components ofthe device. In some examples, the transmitter 1020 may be collocatedwith a receiver 1010 in a transceiver module. For example, thetransmitter 1020 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1235described with reference to FIG. 12. The transmitter 1020 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram 1100 of a UE synchronization signal blockmanager 1115 that supports reference signal schemes in wirelesscommunications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. TheUE synchronization signal block manager 1115 may be an example ofaspects of a UE synchronization signal block manager 915, a UEsynchronization signal block manager 1015, or a UE synchronizationsignal block manager 1215 described with reference to FIGS. 9, 10, and12. The UE synchronization signal block manager 1115 may includeresource identification manager 1120, reference signal manager 1125,waveform identification component 1130, channel estimation component1135, tone identification component 1140, and synchronization signalreceiver 1145. Each of these modules may communicate, directly orindirectly, with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

Resource identification manager 1120 may identify a first set ofwireless resources for synchronization signal transmissions and a secondset of wireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions, the firstset of wireless resources including a first set of frequency resourcesthat span a first bandwidth and the second set of wireless resourcesincluding a second set of frequency resources that span a secondbandwidth that overlaps at least a portion of the first bandwidth,identify a first set of wireless resources for synchronization signaltransmissions and a second set of wireless resources for broadcastchannel transmissions, the second set of wireless resources including afirst subset of time resources and a second subset of time resources,and identify a first set of wireless resources for synchronizationsignal transmissions and a second set of wireless resources forbroadcast channel transmissions. In some cases, the second bandwidth islarger than the first bandwidth.

In some cases, the second set of wireless resources include PBCHresources and the first set of wireless resources includesynchronization signal resources. In some cases, the PBCH resourcesinclude a first symbol of time resources and a third symbol of timeresources, the synchronization signal resources include a second symbolof time resources and a fourth symbol of time resources, the secondsymbol of time resources located between the first symbol of timeresources and the third symbol of time resources, and the fourth symbolof time resources located after the third symbol of time resources. Insome cases, the second symbol of time resources is for transmission of asecondary synchronization signal and the fourth symbol of time resourcesis for transmission of a primary synchronization signal.

Reference signal manager 1125 may identify locations of reference signalresources within the second set of wireless resources based on one ormore of a time resource location within the second set of wirelessresources or a frequency resource location within the second set ofwireless resources relative to the first bandwidth, and receivereference signal transmissions over the reference signal resources. Insome cases, the second set of wireless resources includes a first subsetof time resources and a second subset of time resources, and thereference signal resources are non-uniformly distributed across thefirst subset of time resources and the second subset of time resources.In some cases, the reference signal resources within the first subset oftime resources occupy different frequency resources than at least aportion of reference signal resources within the second subset of timeresources. In some cases, the reference signal resources arenon-uniformly distributed across frequency resources.

In some cases, the frequency resources include a first subset offrequency resources that are overlapping with a first SS bandwidth and asecond subset of frequency resources that are non-overlapping with thefirst bandwidth, and the second subset of frequency resources has ahigher density of reference signal resources than the first subset offrequency resources. In some cases, the first subset of frequencyresources is devoid of reference signal resources. In some cases, thereference signal transmissions include DMRS transmissions. In somecases, a UE may determine a cell identification of a base station, aredundancy version of a broadcast channel transmission, asynchronization configuration, or any combination thereof, based on areference signal sequence of reference signal resources of the referencesignal transmissions. In some cases, such a determination is based on amapping between a reference signal sequence of the reference signaltransmissions and one or more of the transmitter identification, thetiming information, or the synchronization signal transmissionconfiguration.

Waveform identification component 1130 may determine a waveform of thereference signal transmissions based on the locations of the referencesignal resources. In some cases, each of the first subset of timeresources and the second subset of time resources have a same referencesignal waveform. In some cases, the reference signal waveform is aZadoff-Chu sequence, an m-sequence, or a cyclic shift thereof.

Channel estimation component 1135 may perform a channel estimation basedon the received reference signal transmissions and the determinedwaveform of the reference signal transmissions. In some cases, at leasta portion of the broadcast channel transmissions are demodulated basedon synchronization signal transmissions received in the first set ofwireless resources.

Tone identification component 1140 may identify that the second set ofwireless resources includes a first subset of time resources and asecond subset of time resources, and the reference signal resourceswithin the first subset of time resources occupy different frequencyresources than at least a portion of reference signal resources withinthe second subset of time resources. In some cases, the reference signalresources within the first subset of time resources include a firstsubset of tones within the first subset of time resources, and a hoppingpattern is applied to the first subset of tones to determine a secondsubset of tones within the second subset of time resources that are thereference signal resources within the second subset of time resources.In some cases, the second set of wireless resources includes a firstsubset of time resources and a second subset of time resources, and atleast a portion of the reference signal resources within the firstsubset of time resources and the second subset of time resources occupycommon frequency tones. In some cases, the locations of the referencesignal resources are specified tone indices within the second set ofwireless resources. In some cases, the first subset of time resourcesinclude reference signal resources in a first subset of tones and asecond subset of tones, the second subset of time resources includereference signal resources in the first subset of tones and a thirdsubset of tones. In some cases, the first subset of tones in the firstsubset of time resources and the second subset of time resources have asame reference signal waveform, and the second subset of tones in thefirst subset of time resources and the third subset of tones in thesecond subset of time resources have different reference signalwaveforms.

Synchronization signal receiver 1145 may receive synchronization signaltransmissions over the first set of wireless resources. In some cases,the determining includes determining information related to asynchronization signal burst index within a synchronization signal burstset based on a reference signal sequence of the reference signaltransmissions. In some cases, the determining includes determininginformation related to a synchronization signal block index within asynchronization signal burst based on a reference signal sequence of thereference signal transmissions. In some cases, the determining includesdetermining a configuration of one or more of a synchronization signalburst, a synchronization signal burst set, or a periodicity ofsynchronization signal transmissions based on a reference signalsequence of the reference signal transmissions.

FIG. 12 shows a diagram of a system 1200 including a device 1205 thatsupports reference signal schemes in wireless communications inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Device 1205 may be anexample of or include the components of wireless device 905, wirelessdevice 1005, or a UE 115 as described above, e.g., with reference toFIGS. 9 and 10. Device 1205 may include components for bi-directionalvoice and data communications including components for transmitting andreceiving communications, including UE synchronization signal blockmanager 1215, processor 1220, memory 1225, software 1230, transceiver1235, antenna 1240, and I/O controller 1245. These components may be inelectronic communication via one or more buses (e.g., bus 1210). Device1205 may communicate wirelessly with one or more base stations 105.

Processor 1220 may include an intelligent hardware device, (e.g., ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, a central processing unit (CPU), amicrocontroller, an ASIC, an FPGA, a programmable logic device, adiscrete gate or transistor logic component, a discrete hardwarecomponent, or any combination thereof). In some cases, processor 1220may be configured to operate a memory array using a memory controller.In other cases, a memory controller may be integrated into processor1220. Processor 1220 may be configured to execute computer-readableinstructions stored in a memory to perform various functions (e.g.,functions or tasks supporting reference signal schemes in wirelesscommunications).

Memory 1225 may include random access memory (RAM) and read only memory(ROM). The memory 1225 may store computer-readable, computer-executablesoftware 1230 including instructions that, when executed, cause theprocessor to perform various functions described herein. In some cases,the memory 1225 may contain, among other things, a basic input/outputsystem (BIOS) which may control basic hardware and/or software operationsuch as the interaction with peripheral components or devices.

Software 1230 may include code to implement aspects of the presentdisclosure, including code to support reference signal schemes inwireless communications. Software 1230 may be stored in a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium such as system memory or other memory. In somecases, the software 1230 may not be directly executable by the processorbut may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to performfunctions described herein.

Transceiver 1235 may communicate bi-directionally, via one or moreantennas, wired, or wireless links as described above. For example, thetransceiver 1235 may represent a wireless transceiver and maycommunicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. Thetransceiver 1235 may also include a modem to modulate the packets andprovide the modulated packets to the antennas for transmission, and todemodulate packets received from the antennas.

In some cases, the wireless device may include a single antenna 1240.However, in some cases the device may have more than one antenna 1240,which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiplewireless transmissions.

I/O controller 1245 may manage input and output signals for device 1205.I/O controller 1245 may also manage peripherals not integrated intodevice 1205. In some cases, I/O controller 1245 may represent a physicalconnection or port to an external peripheral. In some cases, I/Ocontroller 1245 may utilize an operating system such as iOS®, ANDROID®,MS-DOS®, MS-WINDOWS®, OS/2®, UNIX®, LINUX®, or another known operatingsystem. In other cases, I/O controller 1245 may represent or interactwith a modem, a keyboard, a mouse, a touchscreen, or a similar device.In some cases, I/O controller 1245 may be implemented as part of aprocessor. In some cases, a user may interact with device 1205 via I/Ocontroller 1245 or via hardware components controlled by I/O controller1245.

FIG. 13 shows a block diagram 1300 of a wireless device 1305 thatsupports reference signal schemes in wireless communications inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Wireless device 1305may be an example of aspects of a base station 105 as described herein.Wireless device 1305 may include receiver 1310, base stationsynchronization signal block manager 1315, and transmitter 1320.Wireless device 1305 may also include a processor. Each of thesecomponents may be in communication with one another (e.g., via one ormore buses).

Receiver 1310 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to referencesignal schemes in wireless communications, etc.). Information may bepassed on to other components of the device. The receiver 1310 may be anexample of aspects of the transceiver 1635 described with reference toFIG. 16. The receiver 1310 may utilize a single antenna or a set ofantennas.

Base station synchronization signal block manager 1315 may be an exampleof aspects of the base station synchronization signal block manager 1615described with reference to FIG. 16.

Base station synchronization signal block manager 1315 and/or at leastsome of its various sub-components may be implemented in hardware,software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions of thebase station synchronization signal block manager 1315 and/or at leastsome of its various sub-components may be executed by a general-purposeprocessor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device,discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described in thepresent disclosure. The base station synchronization signal blockmanager 1315 and/or at least some of its various sub-components may bephysically located at various positions, including being distributedsuch that portions of functions are implemented at different physicallocations by one or more physical devices. In some examples, basestation synchronization signal block manager 1315 and/or at least someof its various sub-components may be a separate and distinct componentin accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. In otherexamples, base station synchronization signal block manager 1315 and/orat least some of its various sub-components may be combined with one ormore other hardware components, including but not limited to an I/Ocomponent, a transceiver, a network server, another computing device,one or more other components described in the present disclosure, or acombination thereof in accordance with various aspects of the presentdisclosure.

Base station synchronization signal block manager 1315 may configure afirst set of wireless resources for synchronization signal transmissionsand a second set of wireless resources for broadcast channeltransmissions, the first set of wireless resources including a first setof frequency resources that span a first bandwidth and the second set ofwireless resources including a second set of frequency resources thatspan a second bandwidth that overlaps at least a portion of the firstbandwidth, configure reference signal resources within the second set ofwireless resources, locations of the reference signal resources based onone or more of a time resource location within the second set ofwireless resources or a frequency resource location within the secondset of wireless resources relative to the first bandwidth, and transmitreference signal transmissions using the reference signal resources andsynchronization signal transmissions using the first set of wirelessresources.

The base station synchronization signal block manager 1315 may alsoconfigure a first set of wireless resources for synchronization signaltransmissions and a second set of wireless resources for broadcastchannel transmissions, the second set of wireless resources including afirst subset of time resources and a second subset of time resources,configure locations of reference signal resources within the firstsubset of time resources and the second subset of time resources,determine a waveform of a reference signal transmission based on thelocations of the reference signal resources, and transmit the referencesignal over the reference signal resources.

The base station synchronization signal block manager 1315 may alsoconfigure a first set of wireless resources for synchronization signaltransmissions and a second set of wireless resources for broadcastchannel transmissions, configure locations of reference signal resourceswithin the second set of wireless resources, and transmit referencesignal transmissions over the reference signal resources, where thereference signal transmissions, the locations of the reference signalresources, or any combination thereof provide an indication of one ormore of a transmitter identification, timing information, orsynchronization signal transmission configuration.

Transmitter 1320 may transmit signals generated by other components ofthe device. In some examples, the transmitter 1320 may be collocatedwith a receiver 1310 in a transceiver module. For example, thetransmitter 1320 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1635described with reference to FIG. 16. The transmitter 1320 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 14 shows a block diagram 1400 of a wireless device 1405 thatsupports reference signal schemes in wireless communications inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Wireless device 1405may be an example of aspects of a wireless device 1305 or a base station105 as described with reference to FIG. 13. Wireless device 1405 mayinclude receiver 1410, base station synchronization signal block manager1415, and transmitter 1420. Wireless device 1405 may also include aprocessor. Each of these components may be in communication with oneanother (e.g., via one or more buses).

Receiver 1410 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to referencesignal schemes in wireless communications, etc.). Information may bepassed on to other components of the device. The receiver 1410 may be anexample of aspects of the transceiver 1635 described with reference toFIG. 16. The receiver 1410 may utilize a single antenna or a set ofantennas.

Base station synchronization signal block manager 1415 may be an exampleof aspects of the base station synchronization signal block manager 1615described with reference to FIG. 16. Base station synchronization signalblock manager 1415 may also include resource identification manager1425, reference signal manager 1430, and waveform identificationcomponent 1435.

Resource identification manager 1425 may configure a first set ofwireless resources for synchronization signal transmissions and a secondset of wireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions, the firstset of wireless resources including a first set of frequency resourcesthat span a first bandwidth and the second set of wireless resourcesincluding a second set of frequency resources that span a secondbandwidth that overlaps at least a portion of the first bandwidth, andmay configure a first set of wireless resources for synchronizationsignal transmissions and a second set of wireless resources forbroadcast channel transmissions, the second set of wireless resourcesincluding a first subset of time resources and a second subset of timeresources. In some cases, the second set of wireless resources includePBCH resources and the first set of wireless resources includesynchronization signal resources. In some cases, the PBCH resourcesinclude a first symbol of time resources and a third symbol of timeresources, the synchronization signal resources include a second symbolof time resources and a fourth symbol of time resources, the secondsymbol of time resources located between the first symbol of timeresources and the third symbol of time resources, and the fourth symbolof time resources located after the third symbol of time resources. Insome cases, the second symbol of time resources is for transmission of asecondary synchronization signal and the fourth symbol of time resourcesis for transmission of a primary synchronization signal. In some cases,the second set of wireless resources include PBCH resources and thefirst set of wireless resources include synchronization signalresources. In some cases, the second bandwidth is larger than the firstbandwidth. In some cases, the base station may configure non-uniformlydistributed the reference signal resources across the second set offrequency resources.

Reference signal manager 1430 may configure reference signal resourceswithin the second set of wireless resources, locations of the referencesignal resources based on one or more of a time resource location withinthe second set of wireless resources or a frequency resource locationwithin the second set of wireless resources relative to the firstbandwidth. In some cases, the reference signal transmissions includeDMRS transmissions. In some cases, the configuring locations of thereference signal resources includes configuring non-uniformlydistributed reference signal resources across the second set offrequency resources. In some cases, the second set of frequencyresources include a first subset of frequency resources that areoverlapping with the first bandwidth and a second subset of frequencyresources that are non-overlapping with the first bandwidth, and thesecond subset of frequency resources has a higher density of referencesignal resources than the first subset of frequency resources. In somecases, the first subset of frequency resources is devoid of referencesignal resources. In some cases, the second set of wireless resourcesincludes a first subset of time resources and a second subset of timeresources, and the reference signal resources are non-uniformlydistributed across the first subset of time resources and the secondsubset of time resources.

In some cases, one or more of a cell identification of a base station,synchronization signal burst index within a synchronization signal burstset, a synchronization signal block index within a synchronizationsignal burst, a redundancy version of a broadcast channel transmissiontransmitted in the second set of wireless resources, a configuration ofa synchronization signal burst, a synchronization signal burst set, aperiodicity of synchronization signal transmissions, or any combinationthereof is mapped to a reference signal sequence of the reference signaltransmissions. In some cases, the mapping is between tone locations ofthe reference signal resources and one or more of the cellidentification of the base station, the synchronization signal burstindex within the synchronization signal burst set, the synchronizationsignal block index within the synchronization signal burst, theredundancy version of the broadcast channel transmission transmitted inthe second set of wireless resources, the configuration of thesynchronization signal burst, the synchronization signal burst set, theperiodicity of synchronization signal transmissions, or any combinationthereof.

Waveform identification component 1435 may determine a waveform of areference signal transmission based on the locations of the referencesignal resources. In some cases, each of the first subset of timeresources and the second subset of time resources have a same referencesignal waveform. In some cases, the reference signal waveform is aZadoff-Chu sequence, an m-sequence, or a cyclic shift thereof. In somecases, the first subset of tones in the first subset of time resourcesand the second subset of time resources have a same reference signalwaveform, and the second subset of tones in the first subset of timeresources and the third subset of tones in the second subset of timeresources have different reference signal waveforms. In some cases, thefirst subset of time resources and the second subset of time resourceshave different reference signal waveforms. In some cases, the firstsubset of time resources and the second subset of time resources havedifferent portions of a reference signal sequence, such as a Zadoff-Chusequence, an m-sequence, or a cyclic shift thereof.

Transmitter 1420 may transmit signals generated by other components ofthe device. In some examples, the transmitter 1420 may be collocatedwith a receiver 1410 in a transceiver module. For example, thetransmitter 1420 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1635described with reference to FIG. 16. The transmitter 1420 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 15 shows a block diagram 1500 of a base station synchronizationsignal block manager 1515 that supports reference signal schemes inwireless communications in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure. The base station synchronization signal block manager 1515may be an example of aspects of a base station synchronization signalblock manager 1615 described with reference to FIGS. 13, 14, and 16. Thebase station synchronization signal block manager 1515 may includeresource identification manager 1520, reference signal manager 1525,waveform identification component 1530, and tone identificationcomponent 1535. Each of these modules may communicate, directly orindirectly, with one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

Resource identification manager 1520 may configure a first set ofwireless resources for synchronization signal transmissions and a secondset of wireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions, the firstset of wireless resources including a first set of frequency resourcesthat span a first bandwidth and the second set of wireless resourcesincluding a second set of frequency resources that span a secondbandwidth that overlaps at least a portion of the first bandwidth, andmay configure a first set of wireless resources for synchronizationsignal transmissions and a second set of wireless resources forbroadcast channel transmissions, the second set of wireless resourcesincluding a first subset of time resources and a second subset of timeresources. In some cases, the second set of wireless resources includePBCH resources and the first set of wireless resources includesynchronization signal resources. In some cases, the PBCH resourcesinclude a first symbol of time resources and a third symbol of timeresources, the synchronization signal resources include a second symbolof time resources and a fourth symbol of time resources, the secondsymbol of time resources located between the first symbol of timeresources and the third symbol of time resources, and the fourth symbolof time resources located after the third symbol of time resources. Insome cases, the second symbol of time resources is for transmission of asecondary synchronization signal and the fourth symbol of time resourcesis for transmission of a primary synchronization signal. In some cases,the second set of wireless resources include PBCH resources and thefirst set of wireless resources include synchronization signalresources. In some cases, the second bandwidth is larger than the firstbandwidth. In some cases, the base station may configure non-uniformlydistributed the reference signal resources across the second set offrequency resources.

Reference signal manager 1525 may configure reference signal resourceswithin the second set of wireless resources, locations of the referencesignal resources based on one or more of a time resource location withinthe second set of wireless resources or a frequency resource locationwithin the second set of wireless resources relative to the firstbandwidth. In some cases, the reference signal transmissions includeDMRS transmissions. In some cases, the configuring locations of thereference signal resources includes configuring non-uniformlydistributed reference signal resources across the second set offrequency resources. In some cases, the second set of frequencyresources include a first subset of frequency resources that areoverlapping with the first bandwidth and a second subset of frequencyresources that are non-overlapping with the first bandwidth, and thesecond subset of frequency resources has a higher density of referencesignal resources than the first subset of frequency resources. In somecases, the first subset of frequency resources is devoid of referencesignal resources. In some cases, the second set of wireless resourcesincludes a first subset of time resources and a second subset of timeresources, and the reference signal resources are non-uniformlydistributed across the first subset of time resources and the secondsubset of time resources.

In some cases, one or more of a cell identification of a base station,synchronization signal burst index within a synchronization signal burstset, a synchronization signal block index within a synchronizationsignal burst, a redundancy version of a broadcast channel transmissiontransmitted in the second set of wireless resources, a configuration ofa synchronization signal burst, a synchronization signal burst set, aperiodicity of synchronization signal transmissions, or any combinationthereof is mapped to a reference signal sequence of the reference signaltransmissions. In some cases, the mapping is between tone locations ofthe reference signal resources and one or more of the cellidentification of the base station, the synchronization signal burstindex within the synchronization signal burst set, the synchronizationsignal block index within the synchronization signal burst, theredundancy version of the broadcast channel transmission transmitted inthe second set of wireless resources, the configuration of thesynchronization signal burst, the synchronization signal burst set, theperiodicity of synchronization signal transmissions, or any combinationthereof.

Waveform identification component may determine a waveform of areference signal transmission based on the locations of the referencesignal resources. In some cases, each of the first subset of timeresources and the second subset of time resources have a same referencesignal waveform. In some cases, the reference signal waveform is aZadoff-Chu sequence, an m-sequence, or a cyclic shift thereof. In somecases, the first subset of tones in the first subset of time resourcesand the second subset of time resources have a same reference signalwaveform, and the second subset of tones in the first subset of timeresources and the third subset of tones in the second subset of timeresources have different reference signal waveforms. In some cases, thefirst subset of time resources and the second subset of time resourceshave different reference signal waveforms. In some cases, the firstsubset of time resources and the second subset of time resources havedifferent portions of a reference signal sequence, such as a Zadoff-Chusequence, an m-sequence, or a cyclic shift thereof.

Tone identification component 1535 may, in some cases, identify tonesfor reference signal resources. In some cases, the reference signalresources within the first subset of time resources include a firstsubset of tones within the first subset of time resources, and a hoppingpattern is applied to the first subset of tones to determine a secondsubset of tones within the second subset of time resources that are thereference signal resources within the second subset of time resources.In some cases, the second set of wireless resources includes a firstsubset of time resources and a second subset of time resources, and atleast a portion of the reference signal resources within the firstsubset of time resources and the second subset of time resources occupycommon frequency tones. In some cases, the locations of the referencesignal resources are specified tone indices within the second set ofwireless resources.

FIG. 16 shows a diagram of a system 1600 including a device 1605 thatsupports reference signal schemes in wireless communications inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Device 1605 may be anexample of or include the components of base station 105 as describedabove, e.g., with reference to FIG. 1. Device 1605 may includecomponents for bi-directional voice and data communications includingcomponents for transmitting and receiving communications, including basestation synchronization signal block manager 1615, processor 1620,memory 1625, software 1630, transceiver 1635, antenna 1640, networkcommunications manager 1645, and inter-station communications manager1650. These components may be in electronic communication via one ormore buses (e.g., bus 1610). Device 1605 may communicate wirelessly withone or more UEs 115.

Processor 1620 may include an intelligent hardware device, (e.g., ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, anFPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logiccomponent, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof).In some cases, processor 1620 may be configured to operate a memoryarray using a memory controller. In other cases, a memory controller maybe integrated into processor 1620. Processor 1620 may be configured toexecute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory to performvarious functions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting reference signalschemes in wireless communications).

Memory 1625 may include RAM and ROM. The memory 1625 may storecomputer-readable, computer-executable software 1630 includinginstructions that, when executed, cause the processor to perform variousfunctions described herein. In some cases, the memory 1625 may contain,among other things, a BIOS which may control basic hardware and/orsoftware operation such as the interaction with peripheral components ordevices.

Software 1630 may include code to implement aspects of the presentdisclosure, including code to support reference signal schemes inwireless communications. Software 1630 may be stored in a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium such as system memory or other memory. In somecases, the software 1630 may not be directly executable by the processorbut may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled and executed) to performfunctions described herein.

Transceiver 1635 may communicate bi-directionally, via one or moreantennas, wired, or wireless links as described above. For example, thetransceiver 1635 may represent a wireless transceiver and maycommunicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. Thetransceiver 1635 may also include a modem to modulate the packets andprovide the modulated packets to the antennas for transmission, and todemodulate packets received from the antennas.

In some cases, the wireless device may include a single antenna 1640.However, in some cases the device may have more than one antenna 1640,which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiplewireless transmissions.

Network communications manager 1645 may manage communications with thecore network (e.g., via one or more wired backhaul links). For example,the network communications manager 1645 may manage the transfer of datacommunications for client devices, such as one or more UEs 115.

Inter-station communications manager 1650 may manage communications withother base station 105, and may include a controller or scheduler forcontrolling communications with UEs 115 in cooperation with other basestations 105. For example, the inter-station communications manager 1650may coordinate scheduling for transmissions to UEs 115 for variousinterference mitigation techniques such as beamforming or jointtransmission. In some examples, inter-station communications manager1650 may provide an X2 interface within an Long Term Evolution(LTE)/LTE-A wireless communication network technology to providecommunication between base stations 105.

FIG. 17 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1700 for referencesignal schemes in wireless communications in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 1700 may be implementedby a UE 115 or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1700 may be performed by a UE synchronizationsignal block manager as described with reference to FIGS. 9 through 12.In some examples, a UE 115 may execute a set of codes to control thefunctional elements of the device to perform the functions describedbelow. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 115 may perform aspects ofthe functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

At block 1705 the UE 115 may identify a first set of wireless resourcesfor synchronization signal transmissions and a second set of wirelessresources for broadcast channel transmissions, the first set of wirelessresources comprising a first set of frequency resources that span afirst bandwidth and the second set of wireless resources comprising asecond set of frequency resources that span a second bandwidth thatoverlaps at least a portion of the first bandwidth. The operations ofblock 1705 may be performed according to the methods described herein.In certain examples, aspects of the operations of block 1705 may beperformed by a resource identification manager as described withreference to FIGS. 9 through 12.

At block 1710 the UE 115 may identify locations of reference signalresources within the second set of wireless resources based at least inpart on one or more of a time resource location within the second set ofwireless resources or a frequency resource location within the secondset of wireless resources relative to the first bandwidth. Theoperations of block 1710 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations ofblock 1710 may be performed by a reference signal manager as describedwith reference to FIGS. 9 through 12.

At block 1715 the UE 115 may receive reference signal transmissionsusing the reference signal resources. The operations of block 1715 maybe performed according to the methods described herein. In certainexamples, aspects of the operations of block 1715 may be performed by areference signal manager as described with reference to FIGS. 9 through12.

FIG. 18 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1800 for referencesignal schemes in wireless communications in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 1800 may be implementedby a UE 115 or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1800 may be performed by a UE synchronizationsignal block manager as described with reference to FIGS. 9 through 12.In some examples, a UE 115 may execute a set of codes to control thefunctional elements of the device to perform the functions describedbelow. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 115 may perform aspects ofthe functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

At block 1805 the UE 115 may identify a first set of wireless resourcesfor synchronization signal transmissions and a second set of wirelessresources for broadcast channel transmissions, the second set ofwireless resources comprising a first subset of time resources and asecond subset of time resources. The operations of block 1805 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In certainexamples, aspects of the operations of block 1805 may be performed by aresource identification manager as described with reference to FIGS. 9through 12.

At block 1810 the UE 115 may identify locations of reference signalresources within the first subset of time resources and the secondsubset of time resources. The operations of block 1810 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In certain examples, aspectsof the operations of block 1810 may be performed by a reference signalmanager as described with reference to FIGS. 9 through 12.

At block 1815 the UE 115 may receive reference signal transmissions overthe reference signal resources. The operations of block 1815 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In certainexamples, aspects of the operations of block 1815 may be performed by areference signal manager as described with reference to FIGS. 9 through12.

At block 1820 the UE 115 may determine a waveform of the referencesignal transmissions based at least in part on the locations of thereference signal resources. The operations of block 1820 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In certainexamples, aspects of the operations of block 1820 may be performed by awaveform identification component as described with reference to FIGS. 9through 12.

At block 1825 the UE 115 may perform a channel estimation based at leastin part on the received reference signal transmissions and thedetermined waveform of the reference signal transmissions. Theoperations of block 1825 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations ofblock 1825 may be performed by a channel estimation component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 9 through 12.

FIG. 19 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1900 for referencesignal schemes in wireless communications in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 1900 may be implementedby a UE 115 or its components as described herein. For example, theoperations of method 1900 may be performed by a UE synchronizationsignal block manager as described with reference to FIGS. 9 through 12.In some examples, a UE 115 may execute a set of codes to control thefunctional elements of the device to perform the functions describedbelow. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 115 may perform aspects ofthe functions described below using special-purpose hardware.

At block 1905 the UE 115 may identify a first set of wireless resourcesfor synchronization signal transmissions and a second set of wirelessresources for broadcast channel transmissions. The operations of block1905 may be performed according to the methods described herein. Incertain examples, aspects of the operations of block 1905 may beperformed by a resource identification manager as described withreference to FIGS. 9 through 12.

At block 1910 the UE 115 may identify locations of reference signalresources within the second set of wireless resources. The operations ofblock 1910 may be performed according to the methods described herein.In certain examples, aspects of the operations of block 1910 may beperformed by a reference signal manager as described with reference toFIGS. 9 through 12.

At block 1915 the UE 115 may receive reference signal transmissions overthe reference signal resources. The operations of block 1915 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In certainexamples, aspects of the operations of block 1915 may be performed by areference signal manager as described with reference to FIGS. 9 through12.

At block 1920 the UE 115 may determine one or more of a transmitteridentification, timing information, or synchronization signaltransmission configuration based at least in part on the receivedreference signal transmissions. The operations of block 1920 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In certainexamples, aspects of the operations of block 1920 may be performed by areference signal manager as described with reference to FIGS. 9 through12.

FIG. 20 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2000 for referencesignal schemes in wireless communications in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 2000 may be implementedby a base station 105 or its components as described herein. Forexample, the operations of method 2000 may be performed by a basestation synchronization signal block manager as described with referenceto FIGS. 13 through 16. In some examples, a base station 105 may executea set of codes to control the functional elements of the device toperform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively,the base station 105 may perform aspects of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware.

At block 2005 the base station 105 may configure a first set of wirelessresources for synchronization signal transmissions and a second set ofwireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions, the first set ofwireless resources comprising a first set of frequency resources thatspan a first bandwidth and the second set of wireless resourcescomprising a second set of frequency resources that span a secondbandwidth that overlaps at least a portion of the first bandwidth. Theoperations of block 2005 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations ofblock 2005 may be performed by a resource identification manager asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 13 through 16.

At block 2010 the base station 105 may configure reference signalresources within the second set of wireless resources, locations of thereference signal resources based at least in part on one or more of atime resource location within the second set of wireless resources or afrequency resource location within the second set of wireless resourcesrelative to the first bandwidth. The operations of block 2010 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In certainexamples, aspects of the operations of block 2010 may be performed by areference signal manager as described with reference to FIGS. 13 through16.

At block 2015 the base station 105 may transmit reference signaltransmissions using the reference signal resources and synchronizationsignal transmissions using the first set of wireless resources. Theoperations of block 2015 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations ofblock 2015 may be performed by a reference signal manager as describedwith reference to FIGS. 13 through 16.

FIG. 21 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2100 for referencesignal schemes in wireless communications in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 2100 may be implementedby a base station 105 or its components as described herein. Forexample, the operations of method 2100 may be performed by a basestation synchronization signal block manager as described with referenceto FIGS. 13 through 16. In some examples, a base station 105 may executea set of codes to control the functional elements of the device toperform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively,the base station 105 may perform aspects of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware.

At block 2105 the base station 105 may configure a first set of wirelessresources for synchronization signal transmissions and a second set ofwireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions, the second setof wireless resources comprising a first subset of time resources and asecond subset of time resources. The operations of block 2105 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In certainexamples, aspects of the operations of block 2105 may be performed by aresource identification manager as described with reference to FIGS. 13through 16.

At block 2110 the base station 105 may configure locations of referencesignal resources within the first subset of time resources and thesecond subset of time resources. The operations of block 2110 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In certainexamples, aspects of the operations of block 2110 may be performed by areference signal manager as described with reference to FIGS. 13 through16.

At block 2115 the base station 105 may determine a waveform of areference signal transmission based at least in part on the locations ofthe reference signal resources. The operations of block 2115 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In certainexamples, aspects of the operations of block 2115 may be performed by awaveform identification component as described with reference to FIGS.13 through 16.

At block 2120 the base station 105 may transmit the reference signalover the reference signal resources. The operations of block 2120 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In certainexamples, aspects of the operations of block 2120 may be performed by areference signal manager as described with reference to FIGS. 13 through16.

FIG. 22 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 2200 for referencesignal schemes in wireless communications in accordance with aspects ofthe present disclosure. The operations of method 2200 may be implementedby a base station 105 or its components as described herein. Forexample, the operations of method 2200 may be performed by a basestation synchronization signal block manager as described with referenceto FIGS. 13 through 16. In some examples, a base station 105 may executea set of codes to control the functional elements of the device toperform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively,the base station 105 may perform aspects of the functions describedbelow using special-purpose hardware.

At block 2205 the base station 105 may configure a first set of wirelessresources for synchronization signal transmissions and a second set ofwireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions. The operationsof block 2205 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations of block 2205 maybe performed by a resource identification manager as described withreference to FIGS. 13 through 16.

At block 2210 the base station 105 may configure locations of referencesignal resources within the second set of wireless resources. Theoperations of block 2210 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In certain examples, aspects of the operations ofblock 2210 may be performed by a reference signal manager as describedwith reference to FIGS. 13 through 16.

At block 2215 the base station 105 may transmit reference signaltransmissions over the reference signal resources, wherein the referencesignal transmissions, the locations of the reference signal resources,or any combination thereof provide an indication of one or more of atransmitter identification, timing information, or synchronizationsignal transmission configuration. The operations of block 2215 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In certainexamples, aspects of the operations of block 2215 may be performed by areference signal manager as described with reference to FIGS. 13 through16.

It should be noted that the methods described above describe possibleimplementations, and that the operations and the steps may be rearrangedor otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible.Further, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined.

Techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunications systems such as code division multiple access (CDMA),time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access(FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), singlecarrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA), and other systems.The terms “system” and “network” are often used interchangeably. A codedivision multiple access (CDMA) system may implement a radio technologysuch as CDMA2000, Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), etc.CDMA2000 covers IS-2000, IS-95, and IS-856 standards. IS-2000 Releasesmay be commonly referred to as CDMA2000 1×, 1×, etc. IS-856 (TIA-856) iscommonly referred to as CDMA2000 1×EV-DO, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD),etc. UTRA includes Wideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. ATDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Global System forMobile Communications (GSM).

An OFDMA system may implement a radio technology such as Ultra MobileBroadband (UMB), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE802.20, Flash-OFDM, etc. UTRA and E-UTRA are part of Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS). LTE and LTE-A are releases of UMTSthat use E-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A, NR, and GSM aredescribed in documents from the organization named “3rd GenerationPartnership Project” (3GPP). CDMA2000 and UMB are described in documentsfrom an organization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2”(3GPP2). The techniques described herein may be used for the systems andradio technologies mentioned above as well as other systems and radiotechnologies. While aspects of an LTE or an NR system may be describedfor purposes of example, and LTE or NR terminology may be used in muchof the description, the techniques described herein are applicablebeyond LTE or NR applications.

In LTE/LTE-A networks, including such networks described herein, theterm evolved node B (eNB) may be generally used to describe the basestations. The wireless communications system or systems described hereinmay include a heterogeneous LTE/LTE-A or NR network in which differenttypes of eNBs provide coverage for various geographical regions. Forexample, each eNB, next generation NodeB (gNB), or base station mayprovide communication coverage for a macro cell, a small cell, or othertypes of cell. The term “cell” may be used to describe a base station, acarrier or component carrier associated with a base station, or acoverage area (e.g., sector, etc.) of a carrier or base station,depending on context.

Base stations may include or may be referred to by those skilled in theart as a base transceiver station, a radio base station, an accesspoint, a radio transceiver, a NodeB, eNodeB (eNB), gNB, Home NodeB, aHome eNodeB, or some other suitable terminology. The geographic coveragearea for a base station may be divided into sectors making up only aportion of the coverage area. The wireless communications system orsystems described herein may include base stations of different types(e.g., macro or small cell base stations). The UEs described herein maybe able to communicate with various types of base stations and networkequipment including macro eNBs, small cell eNBs, gNBs, relay basestations, and the like. There may be overlapping geographic coverageareas for different technologies.

A macro cell generally covers a relatively large geographic area (e.g.,several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by UEswith service subscriptions with the network provider. A small cell is alower-powered base station, as compared with a macro cell, that mayoperate in the same or different (e.g., licensed, unlicensed, etc.)frequency bands as macro cells. Small cells may include pico cells,femto cells, and micro cells according to various examples. A pico cell,for example, may cover a small geographic area and may allowunrestricted access by UEs with service subscriptions with the networkprovider. A femto cell may also cover a small geographic area (e.g., ahome) and may provide restricted access by UEs having an associationwith the femto cell (e.g., UEs in a closed subscriber group (CSG), UEsfor users in the home, and the like). An eNB for a macro cell may bereferred to as a macro eNB. An eNB for a small cell may be referred toas a small cell eNB, a pico eNB, a femto eNB, or a home eNB. An eNB maysupport one or multiple (e.g., two, three, four, and the like) cells(e.g., component carriers).

The wireless communications system or systems described herein maysupport synchronous or asynchronous operation. For synchronousoperation, the base stations may have similar frame timing, andtransmissions from different base stations may be approximately alignedin time. For asynchronous operation, the base stations may havedifferent frame timing, and transmissions from different base stationsmay not be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be usedfor either synchronous or asynchronous operations.

The downlink transmissions described herein may also be called forwardlink transmissions while the uplink transmissions may also be calledreverse link transmissions. Each communication link describedherein—including, for example, wireless communications system 100 and200 of FIGS. 1 and 2—may include one or more carriers, where eachcarrier may be a signal made up of multiple sub-carriers (e.g., waveformsignals of different frequencies).

The description set forth herein, in connection with the appendeddrawings, describes example configurations and does not represent allthe examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of theclaims. The term “exemplary” used herein means “serving as an example,instance, or illustration,” and not “preferred” or “advantageous overother examples.” The detailed description includes specific details forthe purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques.These techniques, however, may be practiced without these specificdetails. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shownin block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of thedescribed examples.

In the appended figures, similar components or features may have thesame reference label. Further, various components of the same type maybe distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label.

Information and signals described herein may be represented using any ofa variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data,instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chipsthat may be referenced throughout the above description may berepresented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magneticfields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combinationthereof.

The various illustrative blocks and modules described in connection withthe disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmablelogic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor,but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or moremicroprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration).

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, softwareexecuted by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may bestored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are withinthe scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to thenature of software, functions described above can be implemented usingsoftware executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, orcombinations of any of these. Features implementing functions may alsobe physically located at various positions, including being distributedsuch that portions of functions are implemented at different physicallocations. Also, as used herein, including in the claims, “or” as usedin a list of items (for example, a list of items prefaced by a phrasesuch as “at least one of” or “one or more of”) indicates an inclusivelist such that, for example, a list of at least one of A, B, or C meansA or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Also, asused herein, the phrase “based on” shall not be construed as a referenceto a closed set of conditions. For example, an exemplary step that isdescribed as “based on condition A” may be based on both a condition Aand a condition B without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. In other words, as used herein, the phrase “based on” shallbe construed in the same manner as the phrase “based at least in parton.”

Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storagemedia and communication media including any medium that facilitatestransfer of a computer program from one place to another. Anon-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that can beaccessed by a general purpose or special purpose computer. By way ofexample, and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable media maycomprise RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable read only memory(EEPROM), compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical disk storage, magneticdisk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othernon-transitory medium that can be used to carry or store desired programcode means in the form of instructions or data structures and that canbe accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer, or ageneral-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connection isproperly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the softwareis transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using acoaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line(DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave,then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, orwireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave areincluded in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, as used herein,include CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD),floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce datamagnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.Combinations of the above are also included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media.

The description herein is provided to enable a person skilled in the artto make or use the disclosure. Various modifications to the disclosurewill be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the genericprinciples defined herein may be applied to other variations withoutdeparting from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, the disclosure is notlimited to the examples and designs described herein, but is to beaccorded the broadest scope consistent with the principles and novelfeatures disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for wireless communication, comprising:identifying a first set of wireless resources for synchronization signaltransmissions and a second set of wireless resources for broadcastchannel transmissions; identifying locations of reference signalresources within the second set of wireless resources; receivingreference signal transmissions over the reference signal resources; anddetermining a redundancy version of a broadcast channel transmissiontransmitted in the second set of wireless resources based at least inpart on a reference signal sequence of the reference signaltransmissions.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determininga cell identification of a base station based at least in part on thereference signal sequence of the reference signal transmissions.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: receiving synchronization signaltransmissions over the first set of wireless resources; and determininga cell identification of a base station based at least in part on thesynchronization signal transmissions, and wherein the receiving thereference signal transmissions is based at least in part on the cellidentification of the base station.
 4. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining information related to a synchronization signalburst index within a synchronization signal burst set based at least inpart on the reference signal sequence of the reference signaltransmissions.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determininginformation related to a synchronization signal block index within asynchronization signal burst based at least in part on the referencesignal sequence of the reference signal transmissions.
 6. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: determining a configuration of one or moreof a synchronization signal burst, a synchronization signal burst set,or a periodicity of synchronization signal transmissions based at leastin part on the reference signal sequence of the reference signaltransmissions.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining isbased at least in part on a mapping between the reference signalsequence of the reference signal transmissions and one or more of thetransmitter identification, the timing information, or thesynchronization signal transmission configuration.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the determining is based at least in part on a mappingbetween the locations of the reference signal resources and one or moreof the transmitter identification, the timing information, or thesynchronization signal transmission configuration.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the first set of wireless resources comprises a firstset of frequency resources that span a first bandwidth and the secondset of wireless resources comprises a second set of frequency resourcesthat span a second bandwidth that overlaps at least a portion of thefirst bandwidth, and wherein the reference signal resources arenon-uniformly distributed across the second set of frequency resources.10. The method of claim 9, wherein the second bandwidth is larger thanthe first bandwidth.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the second setof wireless resources comprise physical broadcast channel (PBCH)resources.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein: the PBCH resourcescomprise a first symbol of time resources and a third symbol of timeresources; and the synchronization signal resources comprise a secondsymbol of time resources, the second symbol of time resources locatedbetween the first symbol of time resources and the third symbol of timeresources.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the second symbol of timeresources is for transmission of a secondary synchronization signal. 14.The method of claim 1, wherein the reference signal transmissionscomprise demodulation reference signal (DMRS) transmissions.
 15. Themethod of claim 1, wherein: the second set of wireless resourcescomprises a first subset of time resources and a second subset of timeresources; and the reference signal resources are non-uniformlydistributed across the first subset of time resources and the secondsubset of time resources, the reference signal resources within thefirst subset of time resources occupying different frequency resourcesthan at least a portion of reference signal resources within the secondsubset of time resources, or any combination thereof.
 16. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the second set of wireless resources comprises a firstsubset of time resources and a second subset of time resources, andwherein the method further comprises: identifying locations of referencesignal resources within the first subset of time resources and thesecond subset of time resources; determining a waveform of the referencesignal transmissions based at least in part on the locations of thereference signal resources; and performing a channel estimation based atleast in part on the received reference signal transmissions and thedetermined waveform of the reference signal transmissions.
 17. A methodfor wireless communication, comprising: configuring a first set ofwireless resources for synchronization signal transmissions and a secondset of wireless resources for broadcast channel transmissions;configuring locations of reference signal resources within the secondset of wireless resources; and transmitting reference signaltransmissions over the reference signal resources, wherein the referencesignal transmissions, the locations of the reference signal resources,or any combination thereof provide an indication of a redundancy versionof a broadcast channel transmission transmitted in the second set ofwireless resources based at least in part on a reference signal sequenceof the reference signal transmissions.
 18. The method of claim 17,wherein one or more of a cell identification of a base station,synchronization signal burst index within a synchronization signal burstset, a synchronization signal block index within a synchronizationsignal burst, the redundancy version of the broadcast channeltransmission transmitted in the second set of wireless resources, aconfiguration of one or more of a synchronization signal burst, asynchronization signal burst set, a periodicity of synchronizationsignal transmissions, or any combination thereof is mapped to thereference signal sequence of the reference signal transmissions.
 19. Themethod of claim 17, wherein the first set of wireless resourcescomprises a first set of frequency resources that span a first bandwidthand the second set of wireless resources comprises a second set offrequency resources that span a second bandwidth that is larger than thefirst bandwidth and that overlaps at least a portion of the firstbandwidth, and wherein the reference signal resources are non-uniformlydistributed across the second set of frequency resources.
 20. The methodof claim 17, wherein the second set of wireless resources comprisephysical broadcast channel (PBCH) resources.
 21. The method of claim 20,wherein: the PBCH resources comprise a first symbol of time resourcesand a third symbol of time resources; and the synchronization signalresources comprise a second symbol of time resources, the second symbolof time resources located between the first symbol of time resources andthe third symbol of time resources.
 22. The method of claim 21, whereinthe second symbol of time resources is for transmission of a secondarysynchronization signal.
 23. The method of claim 17, wherein thereference signal transmissions comprise demodulation reference signal(DMRS) transmissions.
 24. An apparatus for wireless communication,comprising: a processor, memory coupled with the processor; andinstructions stored in the memory and executable by the processor tocause the apparatus to: identify a first set of wireless resources forsynchronization signal transmissions and a second set of wirelessresources for broadcast channel transmissions; identify locations ofreference signal resources within the second set of wireless resources;receive reference signal transmissions over the reference signalresources; and determine a redundancy version of a broadcast channeltransmission transmitted in the second set of wireless resources basedat least in part on a reference signal sequence of the reference signaltransmissions.
 25. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising:a processor, memory coupled with the processor; and instructions storedin the memory and executable by the processor to cause the apparatus to:configure a first set of wireless resources for synchronization signaltransmissions and a second set of wireless resources for broadcastchannel transmissions; configure locations of reference signal resourceswithin the second set of wireless resources; and transmit referencesignal transmissions over the reference signal resources, wherein thereference signal transmissions, the locations of the reference signalresources, or any combination thereof provide an indication of aredundancy version of a broadcast channel transmission transmitted inthe second set of wireless resources based at least in part on areference signal sequence of the reference signal transmissions.
 26. Anapparatus for wireless communication, comprising: means for identifyinga first set of wireless resources for synchronization signaltransmissions and a second set of wireless resources for broadcastchannel transmissions; means for identifying locations of referencesignal resources within the second set of wireless resources; means forreceiving reference signal transmissions over the reference signalresources; and means for determining a redundancy version of a broadcastchannel transmission transmitted in the second set of wireless resourcesbased at least in part on a reference signal sequence of the referencesignal transmissions.
 27. An apparatus for wireless communication,comprising: means for configuring a first set of wireless resources forsynchronization signal transmissions and a second set of wirelessresources for broadcast channel transmissions; means for configuringlocations of reference signal resources within the second set ofwireless resources; and means for transmitting reference signaltransmissions over the reference signal resources, wherein the referencesignal transmissions, the locations of the reference signal resources,or any combination thereof provide an indication of a redundancy versionof a broadcast channel transmission transmitted in the second set ofwireless resources based at least in part on a reference signal sequenceof the reference signal transmissions.
 28. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing code for wireless communication, thecode comprising instructions executable by a processor to: identify afirst set of wireless resources for synchronization signal transmissionsand a second set of wireless resources for broadcast channeltransmissions; identify locations of reference signal resources withinthe second set of wireless resources; receive reference signaltransmissions over the reference signal resources; and determine aredundancy version of a broadcast channel transmission transmitted inthe second set of wireless resources based at least in part on areference signal sequence of the reference signal transmissions.
 29. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wirelesscommunication, the code comprising instructions executable by aprocessor to: configure a first set of wireless resources forsynchronization signal transmissions and a second set of wirelessresources for broadcast channel transmissions; configure locations ofreference signal resources within the second set of wireless resources;and transmit reference signal transmissions over the reference signalresources, wherein the reference signal transmissions, the locations ofthe reference signal resources, or any combination thereof provide anindication of a redundancy version of a broadcast channel transmissiontransmitted in the second set of wireless resources based at least inpart on a reference signal sequence of the reference signaltransmissions.